Press Release
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Washington – Today, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) released the following statement to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This law was signed by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021. “The strength of our economy is based on modern and resilient infrastructure. When we make historic investments to improve infrastructure across the country, everyone benefits,” said Thompson. “Since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed into law one year ago, California has been allocated billions of dollars to fix our roads and bridges, strengthen our electrical grid, modernize port operations, deliver clean water to all, ensure electrical grid resilience, and invest in electric vehicle infrastructure. “This law is creating good-paying jobs, modernizing our infrastructure, and securing a stronger future for our communities. As we recognize the one-year anniversary of the signing of this law, I remain committed to building on this progress and ensuring that every community sees the benefit of this historic law.” The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed the Senate on August 10, 2021 by a vote of 69-30. Rep. Thompson voted to pass the law in the House on November 5, 2021, when it passed by a vote of 228-206. Roads and Bridges: In California there are 1,536 bridges and over 14,220 miles of highway in poor condition. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will rebuild our roads and includes the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system. Based on formula funding alone, California is expected to receive approximately $28 billion over five years in federal funding for highways and bridges.
Internet: High-speed internet is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, participate in school, access health care, and stay connected. Yet nearly 18% of Californians do not have an internet subscription. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $65 billion to provide affordable, high-speed internet to every American. California will receive a minimum allocation of at least $100 million to help ensure high-speed internet coverage across the state. Additionally, experts estimate that as many as 5.6 million households in California are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which cuts internet bills by up to $30 per month, or $75 for households on Tribal lands, and provides a onetime $100 discount off a connected device. The Biden-Harris Administration is providing further cost savings by working with internet providers to offer high-speed internet plans that are fully covered by the Affordable Connectivity Program — meaning most eligible households can now get high-speed internet without paying a dime.
Water: Currently, up to 10 million American households across the country connect to water through lead pipes and lack access to clean, safe drinking water. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents the largest investment in clean drinking water in American history, including the first-ever dedicated federal funding to replace lead service lines and address dangerous PFAS chemicals.
Public Transit: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in public transit in U.S. history. Based on formula funding alone, California would expect to receive about $10.3 billion over five years under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve public transit across the state. This funding will expand healthy, sustainable transportation options in California, where non-white households are 1.6 times more likely to commute via public transportation and over 18% of transit vehicles in the state are currently past useful life.
Clean Buses: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests over $10 billion for clean public transit and school buses. This includes a $5 billion investment over the next five years to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and low-emission models. Use of clean school buses promotes cleaner air, reduced health risks, especially for children, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This year alone, funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help double the number of clean public transit buses on America’s roads.
Electric Vehicle Charging: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $7.5 billion to build the first-ever national network of electric vehicle chargers in the United States and is a critical element of President Biden’s plan to address the climate crisis and support domestic manufacturing jobs. Through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program alone, California should expect to receive about $384 million in formula funding over five years to support the expansion of electric vehicle charging in the state.
Clean Energy & Power: Power outages cost the U.S. economy more than $70 billion annually. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes a historic investment to upgrade our power infrastructure by making the grid more resilient and building thousands of miles of new transmission lines to deliver clean, affordable electricity. The law also makes a historic investment in clean energy technologies like advanced nuclear, clean hydrogen, and carbon capture, as well as a historic $3.5 billion investment in weatherization to improve energy efficiency of homes and lower energy costs for impacted households by an average of $372 per year.
Airports: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $25 billion in airports to replace and modernize airport infrastructure, which helps the US become more economically competitive globally, creates good jobs, supports more efficient operations, and enhances traveler experience.
Ports and Waterways: Like airports, our ports and waterways are in need of repair and reimagination. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $17 billion in port infrastructure to strengthen our supply chains, address maintenance backlogs, and reduce congestion and emissions near ports– ultimately helping our country move goods more quickly and at lower cost.
Resilience: Millions of Americans feel the effects of climate change and extreme weather every day. More frequent hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves, floods, unprecedented power outages, and persistent droughts devastate our communities and threaten our infrastructure. In the last two decades, California has experienced 32 extreme weather events, costing the state up to $100 billion in damages. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes a $50 billion investment to bolster our resilience against pressing challenges like impacts of climate change, extreme weather events, and other hazards like cyberattacks.
Legacy Pollution Cleanup: Across the country, thousands of former industrial, chemical, and energy sites emit harmful pollutants into surrounding communities. These sites pose harms to health, welfare, and economic prosperity — and disproportionately impact communities of color: 26% of Black Americans and 29% of Hispanic Americans live within 3 miles of a Superfund site, a higher percentage than for Americans overall. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will deliver the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution in American history by cleaning up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaiming abandoned mines, and capping orphaned oil and gas wells.
For more information, click here to see a map of funding and announced projects announced in our community through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. |