Travel Pool Reports of April 30, 2021

Out of town pool report #1

Good morning all. I'll be your print pooler for President Biden's trip to Philadelphia today and subsequent stay in Wilmington. He's scheduled to depart JBA at 12:25pm. The White House passes along the following —

BACKGROUND MEMORANDUM

TO: Out-of-Town Travel Pool

FROM: White House Press Office

DATE: April 30, 2021

RE: Background for the President's Visit to Pennsylvania

The Need for the American Jobs Plan in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's infrastructure received a C- grade on its Infrastructure Report Card. Toplines on the need for the American Jobs Plan in Pennsylvania include:

• There are 3,353 bridges and over 7,540 miles of highway in poor condition and each driver pays $620 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair.
• From 2010 to 2020, Pennsylvania has experienced 37 extreme weather events, costing the state up to $10 billion in damages.
• Over the next 20 years, Pennsylvania's drinking water infrastructure will require $16.8 billion in additional funding.
• In part due to a lack of available and affordable housing, 720,000 renters in Pennsylvania are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent.
• 5% of Pennsylvanians live in areas where, by one definition, there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds and 14% of Pennsylvania households do not have an internet subscription.
• In Pennsylvania, 57% of residents live in a childcare desert.
• Manufacturers account for more than 11% of total output in Pennsylvania, employing 565,000 workers, or 9.3% of the state's workforce.
• In Pennsylvania, an average low-income family spends 8-10% of their income on home energy costs forcing tough choices between paying energy bills and buying food, medicine or other essentials.
• As of 2019, there were 93,861 Pennsylvanians working in clean energy, and the American Jobs Plan invests in creating more well-paying union jobs advancing clean energy production.
• Pennsylvania is home to over 800,000 veterans, 7.3% of whom are women and 55% of whom are over the age of 65.

The Need for the American Families Plan in Pennsylvania

The American Families Plan (AFP) is an investment in Pennsylvania's children and families. Toplines on the need for the American Families Plan in Pennsylvania include:

• HIGHER EDUCATION: The average cost of a 2-year degree in Pennsylvania is almost $5,700 per year, and high costs are part of the reason just 70% of students in Pennsylvania are able to complete a postsecondary degree of any kind within 6 years of enrolling. The AFP will provide at least two years of free community college to all students, including Dreamers. It will also increase the maximum Pell Grant awards by approximately $1,400 to support the nearly 200,000 students in Pennsylvania who rely on Pell for their education. In addition, the AFP will provide support to Pennsylvania's 24 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs).
• UNIVERSAL PRE-SCHOOL: Across the U.S., high-minority and high-poverty high schools have seen 9.4% and 11.4% declines in college enrollment, respectively. Just 48,700 (or 17%) of the 286,000 3- and 4-year-olds in Pennsylvania have access to publicly-funded pre-school. The AFP will provide access to free, high-quality pre-school to all 3- and 4-year-olds in Pennsylvania.
• INVESTING IN TEACHERS: Pennsylvania has seen a 49% decline in new teacher supply. In Pennsylvania just 6% of teachers are teachers of color, while students of color make up 35% of the student population. The AFP will invest $9 billion in our teachers.
• CHILD CARE: The average annual cost of a child care center for a toddler in Pennsylvania is $11,400, meaning that a two-parent household would on average need to spend 11% of their income to afford care for one child every year. The AFP will enable low and middle-income families to pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care, generating lifetime benefits for over 289,000 children in Pennsylvania and helping working families.
• PAID LEAVE: In Pennsylvania and across the nation, more than 110 million workers lack access to paid family leave and nearly 84 million lack access to paid medical leave. The AFP will create a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program.
• CHILD NUTRITION: 16% of children in Pennsylvania live in food insecure households and 28% are obese. The AFP will ensure that the nutritional needs of Pennsylvania's children are met by expanding access to free school meals to an additional 288,000 students and providing 947,000 students with resources to purchase food over the summer.
• HEALTH CARE: The AFP will make the health insurance premium reductions in the ARP permanent. In Pennsylvania, that means 122,000 uninsured people will gain coverage and 126,000 will on average save hundreds of dollars per year on their premiums.
• TAX CUTS FOR WORKING FAMILIES: 13% of children under the age of 18 in Pennsylvania are considered poor. In addition, nearly 24% of people in Pennsylvania have household incomes below basic family budget thresholds. The AFP will bolster financial security and spur economic growth in Pennsylvania by reducing taxes on the middle class and those striving to break into it.

The Impact of the American Rescue Plan in Pennsylvania

In total, Pennsylvania will receive the following American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding:

· $7.4 billion in state fiscal relief and $4.9 billion in local fiscal relief.
· More than $5.1 billion in relief for K-12 schools.
· Economic impact payments of up to $1,400 per person (above the $600 per person provided in December) for more than 8.1 million adults and 2.8 million children (or 86% of all adults and 84% of all children in the state).
· Additional relief of up to $1,600 per child through the Child Tax Credit to the families of 2,368,000 children, lifting 140,000 children out of poverty.
· Additional relief of up to nearly $1,000 through the Earned Income Tax Credit.
· Credit to 700,000 childless workers, including many in frontline jobs.
· Marketplace health insurance premiums that are $1402 lower per month for a 60-year old couple earning $75,000 per year.

Federal Support for Pennsylvania Vaccinations

Pharmacies: As of April 28, the Biden-Harris Administration has made vaccine available in over 1,600 pharmacies across the state, with over 1,100 receiving deliveries in the past week. Participating stores are primarily Rite Aid, CVS, Topco, and Walmart locations but span multiple other pharmacy partners.

Community Health Centers: The Biden-Harris Administration has invited 46 health centers in Pennsylvania to receive direct vaccine allocations, spanning 30 cities. The centers combined have sites at over 300 different care delivery locations across the state. As of April 28, 37,700 doses have been delivered to Community Health Centers in Pennsylvania through the federal vaccinations program.

Federal Funding: As of April 26, the Biden-Harris Administration has provided over $212 million to the state to support vaccination operations. There are 13 federally-supported community vaccination centers in the state, including one FEMA Pilot site at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. There are over 375 federal personnel currently deployed to the state to support vaccination operations, in addition to over 430 federally-funded National Guard members currently supporting the COVID-19 response.

Out of town pool report #2

The motorcade arrived and came to a stop at 12:57pm. POTUS and FLOTUS stepped out a minute later. FLOTUS chatted briefly with a woman whose identity your pooler has inquired about. They stepped aboard AF1 at 12:59pm. Bruce Reed was also spotted boarding AF1.

We are on board and readying for takeoff.

The gaggle with press secretary Jen Psaki is going to be streamed at https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/ so please listen there. It's supposed to begin shortly after we takeoff.

Out of town pool report #3

We are taxiing for takeoff en route to Philadelphia International Airport. --

Out of town pool report #4

White House sends the following along —

Upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews, the President and the First Lady were greeted by:

• Colonel Stephen P. Snelson, Commander, 89th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Andrews
• Mrs. Catherine Snelson, Spouse of Colonel Snelson

Out of town pool report #5 — arrival in Philadelphia

We are wheels down in Philadelphia at 1:36pm. --

Out of town pool report #6

POTUS and FLOTUS deplaned at 1:49pm. FLOTUS gave POTUS a hug before getting into a different car. We are rolling now to the speech venue. --

Out of town pool report #7

We came to a stop for several minutes after initially rolling at the airport. The White Hosue sends the following along — pool held in the vans as this took place and did not get eyes on the photo line. We are now rolling again.

From the White House —

Upon arrival at the airport, the President participated in a photo line with the following:

Governor Tom Wolf (D-PA)
Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5)
Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6)
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4)
Congresswoman Susan Wild (D-PA-07)
State Senator Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia)
State Senator Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia)
State Representative Jason Dawkins (D-Philadelphia-PA)
State Representative Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia-PA)
City Commissioner Lisa Deeley (D-Philadelphia-PA)
City Councilwoman Cherelle Parker (D-Philadelphia)
Reverend Dr. Alyn E. Waller, Senior Pastor of the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church
David Cohen, Senior Advisor to the CEO, Comcast Corporation
Patrick Eiding, President, Philadelphia AFL-CIO
Bob Brady, former Congressman

Out of town pool report #8 - NEWS on India travel restrictions

From the Press Secretary:

On the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Administration will restrict travel from India starting immediately.
The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the India.
The policy will take effect on Tuesday, May 4

Out of town pool report #9 — event site

The motorcade arrived at the venue at 2:26pm. We are set up outdoors on top of rail road tracks, surrounded by stationary Amtrak trains. A lectern is set up between the train tracks with signage that says "Getting America back on track/50 Amtrak/The future rides with us." POTUS is due to deliver remarks soon marking the 50th anniversary of Amtrak. They will be streamed but I will send additional color.--

Out of town pool report #10

White House passes along the following. The event is starting, we are hearing audio about Amtrak.

Upon arrival to the station, the President participated in a photo line with the following:

• Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
• Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA-03)
• Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA-02)
• Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE-AL)
• Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ-10)
• Mayor Jim Kenney (D- Philadelphia)
• Former Governor Ed Rendell (D)
• Anthony (Tony) Coscia, Chair, Amtrak Board of Directors
• Albert (Bert) DiClemente, Amtrak Board of Directors
• Justin Gray, President and CEO of Gray Global Advisors
• Gregg & Carol Weaver
• Blake Weaver, Amtrak Conductor
• Mary Kate Weaver, Blake's daughter (age 8)
• Stephanie Weaver, Blake's wife
• Bill Flynn, CEO of Amtrak

Out of town pool report #11 - two min warning

Two minute warning on President Biden's remarks. --

Out of town pool report #12 — Biden speaking

President Biden, wearing a blue cap, began speaking at 2:54pm. He walked out with his granddaughters, who are seated off to the side in the front.

White House sends this along —

The President is joined today by Amtrak CEO William J. Flynn and Amtrak Conductor Blake Weaver. Granddaughters Maisy and Finnegan Biden walked out with the President.

Other audience members in attendance:

• Governor Tom Wolf (D)
• Roger Harris, Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer, Amtrak
• Scot Naparstek, Chief Operating Officer, Amtrak,
• Dennis Newman, EVP, Planning and Strategy, Amtrak
• Steve Predmore, Chief Safety Officer, Amtrak
• Qiana Spain, Chief Human Resource Officer, Amtrak
• Christian Zacariassen, Chief Information Officer, Amtrak
• Kevin H. Winters, Inspector General, Amtrak
• Amit Bose, Acting Administrator of Federal Railroad Administration
• Paul Nissenbaum, FRA Associate Administrator for Policy & Development
• Greg Regan, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
• Yassmin Gramian, P.E., Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation
• Leslie S. Richards, SEPTA General Manager
• Kevin S. Corbett, President & CEO NJ Transit
• John Feltz, Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU)
• Arthur Maratea, National President, Transportation Communications Union (TCU)
• Joseph Sellers, International President, Sheet Metal Air Railroad Transport Workers Union (SMART)
• Philadelphia City Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier (D)

Out of town pool report #13

POTUS ended his remarks at 3:10pm. He walked over and chatted with some of the guests before walking away with his nieces. It was quite windy during his remarks.

We are loading back into the vans now.

Out of town pool report #14 — correction to previous report

My previous report mistakenly said that POTUS walked away with his nieces, but it should have said granddaughters. Your pooler regrets the error.

We are still holding in vans.

Out of town pool report #15 -- rolling

We are rolling as of 3:32pm.

out of town pool report #16

As we rolled out of Philadelphia, a significant number of people lined the streets to watch the motorcade. A few held up signs. Your pooler caught a glimpse of signs reading "#FreeTheVaccine" and "Defund the Pentagon."

Out of town pool report #17

The motorcade pulled up to the Biden residence in Wilmington just before 4:15pm. Your pooler did not see POTUS. We are now turning back en route to the Westin, where pool is staying overnight.

out of town pool report #18 --travel/photo lid

We have a travel/photo lid. Many thanks to co-pooler Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the NYT. We'll be back with you all tomorrow. Have a wonderful evening.