Amplify: Historic Accomplishments of Biden’s Infrastructure Law

Dec 18

Taking office amid the COVID downturn, President Biden strung together a truly historic string of legislative victories – enacting comprehensive programs that previous administrations had long sought. Each was an integral part of the Biden agenda to create jobs on a massive scale, reshape the U.S. economy to assist the middle class, address climate change, increase US competitiveness internationally -- and bring 21st-century solutions to issues confronting the country.

Chief among these was the Infrastructure Law, signed by the President in November 2021. Following decades of talk about the need to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure, the Law authorized a once-in-a-generation $1.2 trillion federal investment in railroads, bridges, ports, broadband access, the power grid, clean water – and American workers.

Highlights:

Only two years after its passage, the Law is having a profound impact across America – with the announcement of over 40,000 projects in more than 4,500 communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and in Native American tribal areas.
These projects, representing total investments of over $400 billion, cover airports, bridges, roads, recharging stations, the production of electric vehicles and mass transportation, expanded access to high-speed internet, and investments in biotech, clean energy, climate change resilience, etc. The Administration estimates that the listed projects will take three to five years to complete.
To keep voters updated on the impact on their specific communities, the Administration has created a comprehensive website that tracks all projects announced under the Act. An interactive map provides the location and amount awarded for each project, and accompanying state fact sheets provide summaries on a state-by-state basis.
Since the projects involve large-scale construction, the full economic benefits will play out over time. However, the substantial impact on employment is already being felt. In highway, street, and bridge construction, the increase in hiring from 2011-2019 averaged 700 jobs per month. By contrast, since November 2022, the increase has quadrupled, with the addition of 2,800 jobs per month.