Written by David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Outgoing US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Sunday aimed at prioritizing government resources to help economically distressed US communities – a day before he leaves the White House.
Biden's order targets so-called “left-wing communities” and is intended to help incoming President Donald Trump, who will oversee major spending on infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, broadband internet and other programs approved during Biden's presidency.
By one estimate, 15 percent of the U.S. population — or about 50 million Americans — live in a nominal distressed area, measured by poverty, unemployment, education, abandoned homes, average incomes, and declining jobs and businesses.
The White House has touted a number of funded programs over the past four years, including $54 billion in investments in energy communities — coal, oil, gas and power plant areas — in addition to $210 million announced last week for six new technology centers. $525 million for vocational training in disaster-stricken areas and billions of dollars in infrastructure for disaster-stricken areas.
Biden's order prioritizes communities that are falling behind for economic development funding, including those “facing economic distress, undergoing industrial transformation, emerging as centers of innovation, and rebuilding from natural disasters.”
“It's not flashy,” Lael Brainard, a White House economic adviser, said in an interview. “It's just a fulfillment of his determination to help communities that have been left behind, especially in the heartland, come back.”
The Commerce Department under Biden has given $700 million to “tech hubs” seeking to spread the benefits of the tech sector’s growth beyond traditional centers from California’s Silicon Valley to Boston and has made other large investments.
Biden said in a statement that his administration “has made historic investments to help communities that have been left behind, such as distressed areas, factory towns, and coal communities, turn setbacks into setbacks.”
His order directs “whole-of-government coordination of federal investments in lagging communities and creates “no wrong door” to help distressed areas locate resources across the federal government.
It also asks federal employees in areas that have recently experienced natural disasters to identify funding opportunities to meet long-term economic development and infrastructure needs.
“This validates the things we've learned about how to do this work well and what gives these communities the best chance for success,” Brainard said.
In 2018, Trump signed his executive order establishing the White House an opportunity (SO:) and Revitalization Council to address concerns about distressed communities, saying “Despite a growing national economy, these communities suffer from high levels of poverty, failing schools, and scarcity of jobs.”
The Republican president has pledged to reduce regulations and increase tariffs during his second term as part of a plan to boost the US economy.
