Tag: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Commentary: The Role of Federalism in Trump’s Second Term

RealClearWire
Donald Trump

The presidential election is in its final stretch and the race is neck-and-neck, according to the polls. The outcome will have a profound impact at all levels of government and business, so preparing for a second Trump term would be prudent.

In office and on the campaign trail, former President Trump has championed federalism and granting the states greater latitude to implement policies and programs. He has voiced a commitment to reducing the footprint of federal regulations. As president, he implemented executive orders and other actions that sought to ease regulatory costs and effects. The Trump Administration also galvanized deregulatory efforts at the state and local level through the Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation. A similar effort can be expected in a second term.

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‘Clear Violation of the Law’: Biden’s Multi-Billion Dollar Broadband Plan Defies Congressional Mandate, Experts Say

Georgia Star News Staff
Joe Biden

The Biden administration’s program to expand access to broadband internet may run afoul of the law that created it, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the Department of Commerce, is responsible for allocating $42.5 billion in funds intended to bolster the United States’ broadband internet infrastructure through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) program. The agency, in a move to expand high-speed internet access to low-income communities, has been attempting to force states to adopt price controls for broadband services provided through the new projects, a strategy experts say could be illegal.

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Biden Energy Department Ill-Prepared to Combat Fraud as it Spends Billions on Infrastructure

Just the News

The U.S. Energy Department faces major management challenges ranging from hacking vulnerabilities to foreign espionage and could create “massive new risks to the taxpayer” as it spends tens of billions of dollars in new spending from President Joe Biden’s signature infrastructure initiative, the agency’s internal watchdog warns.

The Office of Inspector General offered a stark assessment of the department under Secretary Jennifer Granholm, pointedly warning losses from fraud in the current infrastructure spending could mirror that seen during the COVID pandemic, where taxpayers now lost an estimated $200 billion government wide.

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Senator Ossoff Touts that Georgia Will See $1.8B from Feds in Fiscal 2024 for Infrastructure

The Center Square
Sen. Jon Ossoff

The feds are sending Georgia more than $1.8 billion for fiscal 2024 for a slate of infrastructure projects, a federal lawmaker said.

The money is part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

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Feds Sending Georgia $119.8 Million for Water Safety Upgrades

The Center Square

The feds are sending more than $119.8 million to fund drinking water upgrades, including the removal of lead pipes, across Georgia.

The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, included $6.5 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, established with 1996’s changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act.

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Feds Doling Out $2.3 Billion to ‘Expand and Modernize’ Intercity Passenger Rail

The Center Square

The federal government is looking to dole out nearly $2.3 billion to “expand and modernize” intercity passenger rail across the country.

But a leading transportation analyst says that Amtrak, the nation’s passenger railroad, doesn’t have any plans to break even.

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Georgia Officials Want Federal Help with Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

The Center Square

The Georgia Department of Transportation hopes to secure federal funding to pay for a network of electric vehicle charging stations across The Peach State.

GDOT has submitted the state’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan required to tap into federal funding for developing the network. Georgia officials expect to secure $135 million from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program.

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Amid Supply-Chain Logjams, Infrastructure Bill Allocates $250M to Target Truck Emissions at Ports

Georgia Star News Staff

This week’s Golden Horseshoe is awarded to the Biden Administration and members of Congress who voted for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which includes $250 million for reducing truck emissions at port facilities, which have been crippled by record-breaking cargo backlogs for months.

Critics have attributed the bottlenecks to draconian California emissions standards that exclude up to half the nation’s truckers from transporting shipping containers to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s two busiest, which together account for close to one third of total U.S. shipping cargo volume.

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Biden’s Commerce Secretary Is Trying to Shield a $42 Billion Broadband Funding Program from Public Eyes

Georgia Star News Staff

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo requested the inclusion of a provision in the bipartisan infrastructure bill shielding a $42 billion broadband funding program from public scrutiny, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1.2 trillion piece of legislation that passed the Senate in August with significant bipartisan support and currently awaits a vote in the House, sets aside $42 billion in broadband deployment grants to be given to states and administered through guidelines issued by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the Commerce Department.

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Senate Passes the Largest Infrastructure Package in Decades, over a Dozen Republicans Vote in Favor

Georgia Star News Staff

The Senate on Tuesday passed its bipartisan infrastructure bill, moving what would be the largest public works package in decades one step closer to becoming law months after negotiations first began.

The bill, which advocates praised as the largest investment in America’s infrastructure since the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s, passed 69-30. Nineteen Republicans joined every Democrat in voting for the package.

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