Outgoing President Joe Biden to Sign Executive Order to Help Distressed American Communities
Washington (Reuters) – Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Sunday aimed at prioritizing government resources to help economically distressed American communities. The order targets so-called “Left-Behind Communities” and aims to help incoming President Donald Trump, who will oversee significant spending on infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, broadband internet, and other programs approved during Biden’s presidency.
The order prioritizes left-behind communities for economic development funding, including those facing economic distress, undergoing industrial transitions, emerging as innovation hubs, and rebuilding from natural disasters. The White House has touted a number of programs funded over the last four years, including $54 billion in investments to Energy Communities, $210 million announced last week for six new tech hubs, $525 million for job training in distressed areas, and billions in infrastructure for distressed regions.
According to one estimate, 15% of the U.S. population, or around 50 million Americans, live in a distressed zip code, which is measured by poverty, unemployment, education, abandoned homes, median income, and declines in jobs and businesses. The Commerce Department under Biden has awarded $700 million for “tech hubs” seeking to spread benefits of tech sector growth beyond traditional hubs.
Biden’s order directs a “whole-of-government coordination of federal investments in left-behind communities and creates a “No Wrong Door” to help distressed areas identify resources across the federal government. It also tells federal employees in areas that recently suffered natural disasters to identify funding opportunities to address long-term economic development and infrastructure needs.
Trump signed his own executive order in 2018, creating a White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council to address concerns about distressed communities. The Republican president has vowed to cut regulations and hike tariffs during his second term as part of a plan to boost the U.S. economy.