LISC’s Michelle Harati takes a look at key provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which she says will help address systemic disparities through sustained investments in people, places, and small businesses throughout the country.
Earlier this week, President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. It is a once-in-a-generation investment in the physical infrastructure, transportation, and public resources that make our communities more inclusive and resilient, and it will propel the American economy forward.
The measure provides $1.2 trillion in total spending over 10 years, with $550 billion in new federal resources over the next five years that will create living-wage jobs and build a climate-resilient infrastructure, among other critical projects. Numerous provisions are tied to expanding equitable access to opportunity.
The three areas outlined below are particularly significant and poised to help address systemic disparities through sustained investments in people, places, and small businesses across the nation.
Digital Inclusion
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act definitively recognizes that access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband is essential for “full participation in modern life in the United States.” As it stands, up to 42 million Americans lack access to these services and are on the losing side of the digital divide - a fact the pandemic exacerbated. The gap disproportionally impacts low-income and rural areas, and particularly communities of color, as broadband availability is significantly lower in majority-African American and majority-Native American counties.
The new law addresses this with $65 billion in dedicated resources to expand broadband access, affordability, and digital skills. It also recognizes where previous efforts have fallen short. For instance, many past federal policies have solely focused on expanding broadband infrastructure to improve access. But that approach overlooks the fact that many Americans simply cannot afford service or the devices needed to use it. The infrastructure measure provides a long-term solution by transitioning the existing Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) to a new Affordable Connectivity Program administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The new $14 billion program decreases the available subsidy under EBB from $50 to $30 per month, but at the same time, it increases the household eligibility to those at 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines, up from 135 percent. More people will benefit.
The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) received $48 billion to create several new programs and substantially expand the NTIA’s existing Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. One of these new programs, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, will provide $42.5 billion in grants to states to fund the construction and deployment of broadband networks that meet the needs of underserved communities.
The NTIA also received an historic $2.75 billion to support digital inclusion activities through the Digital Equity Act. These funds will be used to establish a State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program ($1.5 billion) to bolster states’ ability to develop and implement digital equity plans and a Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program ($1.25 billion) to allow NTIA to directly support digital inclusion and skill-building activities though public-private partnerships, including those with nonprofits.
Taken together, these investments reflect a dedicated and comprehensive approach that recognizes the varied and, at times, distinct obstacles to bridging the digital divide in rural and urban areas.
Minority Businesses
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides permanent authorization to the Minority Businesses Development Agency (MBDA) in recognition of the critical role that minority-owned businesses play in our local economies and communities. The MBDA was created by executive order in 1969 and has operated without codifying legislation since its inception. As a result, many of the MBDA’s programs have been undervalued and underfunded, a fact that has contributed to pervasive gaps in government contracting opportunities, access to capital, and technical assistance faced by minority-owned businesses.
The measure elevates the MBDA by creating an Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development to lead the agency and allows the MBDA to significantly expand its support for businesses in rural and urban communities. Authorized funding for the MBDA is more than doubled at $110 million until 2025, and its capacity to partner with trusted nonprofit organizations that provide business counseling and capital access is strengthened. The agency’s geographic reach is substantially increased by the establishment of a Rural Minority Business Center Program to allow the MBDA to create rural business centers at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions to increase accessibility.
By codifying and elevating the role of the MBDA, the new law helps promote the economic resiliency of minority entrepreneurs.
Strong Communities
The infrastructure law makes historic investments in the critical infrastructure millions of Americans depend on for connected, healthy, and safe living environments. Specifically, the act includes vital provisions to invest in underserved communities that have been historically cut off from opportunity and suffered the disproportionate impacts of environmental and health hazards.
For example, the law includes $55 billion for clean drinking water—the largest single such investment in American history. The funding will connect more than 10 million households and 400,000 schools and child care centers to safe drinking water, and in doing so, help bridge a gap that disproportionally impacts minority and native communities.
The act also addresses the need for environmental remediation, with $21 billion for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investments in initiatives such as Superfund Clean-Up, Brownfields Revitalization, and the Pollution Prevention (P2) Program. In addition, the measure provides $1 billion to establish a new Reconnecting Communities program at the Department of Transportation, with grants for local jurisdictions to reunify communities divided by harmful transportation infrastructure and reconnect communities facing physical barriers to opportunity.
What’s Next
We applaud these once-in-a-generation investments, but we also recognize the ongoing need for Congress to invest in the nation’s housing and social infrastructure. A multi-pronged approach that includes passage of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act will support an equitable recovery and foster sustained economic growth.
Michelle Harati, Senior Policy Officer
Michelle advocates for federal policies to broaden pathways to opportunity, supporting multiple LISC national programs, including: economic development and small business, workforce development and financial capability, creative placemaking, and AmeriCorps. Before joining LISC, she worked with the City of San Diego Economic Development Department as a Community Development Specialist. She was also a Senior Asset Building Coordinator at the International Rescue Committee's (IRC) Financial Opportunity Center in San Diego and served two terms as an AmeriCorps member. Michelle holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a M.P.P. from Georgetown University.
@michelleharati