Almost exactly a year after signing the American Rescue Plan Act, President Joe Biden touted the recovery of American cities, and said geopolitical concerns, not the stimulus funds, are to blame for rising inflation.
Biden spoke to local officials Monday at the National League of Cities’ Congressional Cities Conference.
“One year after signing this law, our cities and our towns are roaring back,” Biden said.
Unemployment is down to 3.8% in part due to state and local government hiring that was spurred by federal aid, he said, and the economy last year enjoyed the strongest growth in four decades.
“A big part of why we’re so successful is the rescue plan went directly to you without having to go to the statehouse,” Biden said. ARPA provided $130 billion in direct funding to local governments to offset revenue loss due to pandemic-related economic shutdowns.
Despite the recovery, inflation and high fuel prices still pose a struggle, but the ARPA is not to blame for those problems, Biden said.
He cited
“The current spike in gas prices is largely the fault of Vladimir Putin; it has nothing to do with the American Rescue Plan,” Biden said, blaming the Russian leader's invasion of Ukraine and saying gas prices spiked by $1.05 when Putin moved troops to the border and before he even invaded.
The best way to counter the high prices, Biden said, is by lowering other key costs like child care and providing tax credits — two key parts of his stalled Build Back Better bill — and boosting American manufacturing.
Biden also plugged the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act money, which is
The Federal Transit Administration received 303 eligible projects totaling $2.56 billion in requests, the DOT said in a press release on the new funding, and expects to support more projects in the next round of grants.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who spoke earlier at the NLC conference, assured local leaders that they will have plenty of chances to apply for IIJA funds even though the bulk of the funding will go to the states.
Buttigieg outlined the various grants that can go directly to cities, including RAISE grants, electric vehicle charging station discretionary grants, and transit funding.
“Pretty much any priority that you have in your community, there’s going to be an opportunity to apply for funding,” Buttigieg said.
