What They Are Reading in the States: Biden-Harris Administration Touts Impact of Build Back Better Nationwide

This week, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and members of the Biden-Harris Cabinet traveled across the country to underscore the direct impact the Build Back Better Agenda and Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will have on working families.

President Biden and administration officials fanned out from Scranton to Seattle and spoke directly to the American people about how his agenda will lower costs for child care, education, and health care, cut taxes, and create jobs that will help build resilient infrastructure, tackle the climate crisis, and give working families more breathing room.

See below for a small sampling of local coverage across the country this week:

President Biden in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Times-Tribune: In downtown Scranton speech, Biden predicts prosperity if his agenda passes
[Borys Krawczeniuk, 10/20/21]

SCRANTON — President Joe Biden returned to his native city for the first time as commander in chief Wednesday, predicting his agenda will create 2 million more jobs a year for the next two decades.

Biden, who cited a Moody's Analytics study for that figure, also said the agenda will allow more children to attend pre-school, more women to return to work, more people to travel by passenger train and modernize the nation's electrical power grid.

[…]

Biden said the infrastructure bill and his Build Back Better Act would produce good-paying, union jobs.

"We have $39 billion to modernize American transit. I remember riding the trolley. I lived at the end of the line, as they say in Green Ridge. Three blocks from the end of the line. Beyond the end of the line was the dump," Biden said. "You know the vast majority of people now, working people, live in cities. Their jobs are out of town, no longer in town ... but 65% do not own an automobile."

[…]
"No matter how long you live here in Scranton, it's a place that climbs into your heart and it never really leaves you," he said. "Scranton isn't my home because of the memories you gave me. It's home because of the values you gave me."

[…]

"It's an honor to be here," Biden said.

WYOU: President Biden returns to hometown Scranton
[By Caroline Foreback, 10/20/21]

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Eyewitness News had team coverage following the presidential visit Wednesday and Eyewitness News was on the ground talking to the people as they welcomed the president back home.

[...]

The 46th president was born in the Electric City in 1942. Wednesday, he made his first visit to Scranton as president to push his "Build Back Better" agenda and the bipartisan infrastructure deal at the Electric City Trolley Museum. The president was introduced by fellow Scrantonian, Shane Cawley who spoke on behalf of iron workers, as well as working families about the Build Back plan.

"It really seems to help families like mine with childcare, that's a huge thing," Cawley said.
And the infrastructure deal, in which President Biden promised to invest in Pennsylvania's roads and bridges, resilience and public transportation.

[…]

"The fact that he is willing to invest in America, in its infrastructure, is going to change not just the country now, but in the future for future generations that are going to be directly impacted by the decisions we make today," Lenahan said.

[…]

President Biden in Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore Sun: President Biden visits Baltimore to push plan to help U.S. families, boost economy in TV town hall
[Emily Opilo and Pamela Wood, 10/21/21]

President Joe Biden made his first official visit to Baltimore since becoming chief executive, making a plea to the American public in support of his social spending and infrastructure plan during a nationally televised town hall hosted by CNN on Thursday.

Biden was greeted by raucous applause from the crowd as he walked onto the stage wearing a dark suit and a wide grin. He waved at the crowd and put one hand over his eyes as he peered into the audience.

The Democratic president was peppered with questions from Marylanders on issues ranging from affordable child care and gas prices to tax rates and climate change, with host Anderson Cooper interjecting his own questions, as well.

As he answered, Biden tried to appeal to the crowd inside the 541-seat Pearlstone Theater at Center Stage in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood, repeatedly asking the attendees to evoke their own struggles or those they've witnessed, particularly during the pandemic.

Biden offered his legislative package as a solution, touting its provisions for child care assistance and paid parental leave as well as help with community college tuition.

"There's a lot of pieces," he said of the legislation early in the event.

Biden's appearance came during a push by Democratic lawmakers in Washington to pass his legislative package, which includes efforts to boost spending on social programs, climate change mitigation and infrastructure.

The infrastructure bill is designed to improve roads, bridges, transit systems and broadband — and help fund Chesapeake Bay restoration — and the social spending package contains key elements of Biden's agenda, including expanding child care support and health care.

[…]

As he discussed the bill Thursday, Biden's experience negotiating during his tenure in Congress was on display. After joking that he served in the U.S. Senate for hundreds of years, the president spoke frankly about provisions of his legislation that have been cut to please moderate Democrats.

[…]
Sondra Guttman, a Loyola University Maryland English professor, asked about whether two years of tuition-free community college will happen.

"I'm going to get it done and if I don't, I'll be sleeping alone for a long time," said Biden, referring to his wife, Jill, who teaches at a community college. He said Pell Grants could help make progress toward that goal.

[…]

The Senate-passed version contained several provisions of specific importance to Marylanders, but it is unclear how many of those provisions will remain when the final details of the deal are hammered out. That version included five years of funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay program, and language allowing the Red Line — a planned Baltimore light rail system rejected by Gov. Larry Hogan six years ago — to be revisited.

Still in consideration is $500 billion to battle climate change, $350 billion for child care subsidies and free prekindergarten, a new federal program for at least four weeks of paid family leave, a one-year extension of the $300 monthly child tax credit put in place during the COVID-19 crisis, and money for health care provided through the Affordable Care Act and Medicare.

[…]

Vice President Kamala Harris in Lake Mead, Nevada

Los Angeles Times: Kamala Harris visits Lake Mead to sell Biden's climate agenda amid drought in West
[Melanie Mason, 10/18/21]

At Lake Mead, Harris made a double-barreled appeal for pillars of Biden's legislative agenda. She emphasized how the bipartisan infrastructure bill that includes water recycling and desalination projects would create union jobs, and touted the Democrats' spending plan, "Build Back Better," as an effort to slow the warming of the planet.

"The Build Back Better agenda will help us tackle the climate crisis with investments in clean energy and electric vehicles, so we can reduce emissions," Harris said. "And why do we need to reduce emissions? Because that is part of what is contributing to these drought conditions."

Arizona Republic: Vice president urges enactment of climate spending on visit to drought-stricken Lake Mead
[Brandon Loomis, 10/18/21]

The white "bathtub ring" the shrinking Colorado River has left behind on the beige rocks behind Hoover Dam shows the growing urgency of acting on climate change and drought, Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters on Monday.

In 20 years of drought that was supercharged by heat, water levels have dropped more than 140 feet, creating the white band Harris talked about as she touted the Biden administration's spending priorities. […]

Harris noted that the administration's Build Back Better agenda, as proposed in the budget reconciliation bill, would fund renewable energy and electric vehicle programs in hopes of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"That is part of what's contributing to these drought conditions," she said. "Right now we have a moment where we have the ability to actually benefit future generations," she said.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Harris urges Congress to pass Biden initiatives during Lake Mead visit
[Blake Apgar, 10/18/21]

Vice President Kamala Harris made the climate change case for two Biden administration initiatives Monday with the declining water levels of Lake Mead as a backdrop.

Flanked by Democratic members of Nevada's congressional delegation, Harris urged lawmakers to pass a pair of bills that she said could reduce emissions, create jobs and benefit future generations.

"And it is critical that we as a nation understand that we have within our hands, within our possession, the ability to actually change the course of where we're headed," she told reporters on a Lake Mead overlook. "Just look out at this lake. … This is where we're headed."

Nevada Independent: Vice President Kamala Harris urges passage of infrastructure bill, measures to address Western drought
[Humberto Sanchez, 10/18/21]

Harris argued that the infrastructure bill — passed by the Senate in August — and the Democratic agenda package, known as the Build Back Better Act, will help make lasting changes when it comes to mitigating drought. The two pieces of legislation, she said, pave a way forward for the nation on policies such as water recycling and reuse, water desalination and drought contingency plans.

Harris said the passage of the bills could help change the current trajectory and pointed to the lake's water level, which is as low as it has ever been. Rings along the perimeter of the lake show the steady decline of the water level, which has dropped 140 feet since 2000, the last year it was considered full.

KLAS Las Vegas: Vice President Harris tours Lake Mead, discusses climate change
[Yan Kaner, Rocky Nash, 10/18/21]

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Nevada on Monday to tour Lake Mead and discuss the Biden Administration's effort to tackle climate change. […]

In her remarks, the vice president emphasized that water shortages have a ripple effect on farmers, food supply, and economy – and that climate change will continue to make extreme weather including droughts and heat more frequent, costly, and harmful.

KTNV Las Vegas: Vice President Kamala Harris tours Lake Mead, discusses climate change with Nevada leaders
[Jordan Gartner, 10/18/21]

Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Southern Nevada on Monday afternoon and discussed climate change amid water shortages in the state. […]

Harris also made the case for the largest investment in climate resilience in U.S. history through passing the Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

"When we look at what's happening here we know this is about this lake but it is about a region and about our nation. The infrastructure deal, combined with the Build Back Better Agenda is about what we need to do to invest in things like water recycling and what we can do in terms of implementation of drought contingency plans. This is about thinking ahead, recognizing where we are and where we're headed if we don't address these issues with a sense of urgency," Harris said.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Illinois

Politico: USDA readies to distribute $1.15B for rural broadband
[Meredith Lee, 10/21/21]

The USDA announced Friday that it will begin making available up to $1.15 billion to help connect rural communities to broadband.

Focus on least-connected communities: The department will begin accepting applications on Nov. 24 for loans and grants via its ReConnect Program, with a focus on less-populated regions that have some of the slowest internet speeds in the country. Certain projects on tribal lands and socially vulnerable communities will be eligible to have projects fully paid for by federal grants.

Telehealth: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the USDA will make a $50 million investment in 105 telehealth and rural distance learning projects across 37 states and Puerto Rico. The Biden administration is working to provide federal resources for rural areas hard hit by the pandemic.

2022 angle: Vilsack made the announcements during a tour with Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) in her northwest Illinois district, as the White House hopes to protect vulnerable Democratic congressional seats ahead of the 2022 midterms.

[…]

What's next: The Biden administration is hoping for another wave of broadband funding if the bipartisan infrastructure bill, H.R. 3684 (117), is passed in Congress. While negotiations have held up final passage, the USDA has been stepping up its efforts to expand broadband to promote President Joe Biden's infrastructure commitments in rural America.

EPA Administrator Regan in North Carolina

Raleigh News & Observer: The EPA announces its 'forever chemicals' strategy. Here's why it's happening in NC
[Adam Wagner, 10/18/21]

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced the Biden administration's plan to address pollution from a persistent and widespread class of man-made chemicals during an event Monday at N.C. State University.

Frequently called "forever chemicals," per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — or PFAS — consist of thousands of chemicals that are used in a wide array of human activities from hamburger wrappers to non-stick pans. The same hard-to-break-down qualities that make the chemicals valuable also mean that they pose a risk to those who are exposed to them.

PFAS compounds have been detected in drinking water throughout North Carolina, from Wilmington to wells around Chemours' plant near Fayetteville to Maysville to Pittsboro. Some PFAS compounds have been linked with health impacts ranging from increased risk of some cancers to reduced immune system effectiveness to decreased fertility. But there are thousands of compounds and many have not been studied, making regulation a challenge.

The EPA's PFAS plan sets out to clean up existing contamination, keep additional chemicals from being released, and lead to additional research. The agency will set what it calls an "aggressive" timeline to set drinking water limits; it will designate PFAS as a hazardous substance under federal Superfund laws; and it will review previous actions the agency has taken under the Toxic Substances Control Act to find any that didn't provide enough protection.

Additionally, the EPA will embark on a testing effort requiring manufacturers of PFAS to provide toxicity information about categories of the chemicals, with more than 2,000 chemicals grouped together by their features.

"It would take EPA decades to do this on our own at the expense of American families and the American taxpayer, but instead the polluters who are poisoning our nation's waterways will be responsible for conducting and paying for this work," Regan said of the testing effort during an announcement by Lake Raleigh.
[…]

Labor Secretary Walsh in Michigan

WXYZ: U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh says funding for child care will create path to middle class
[Kim Russell, 10/21/21]

ROCHESTER, Mich. (WXYZ) — Principal Sara Crowley can focus on work, knowing her son is at the Rochester Community Schools Caring Steps Children's Center.

"I have peace of mind, knowing he is in a safe place every day," said Crowley.
She feels fortunate.

She was there as U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh toured the center on Thursday. He listened to workers, parents, and staff.

Superintendent Robert Shaner talked about the web of issues caused by the labor shortage.

"Until we can get enough caregivers in here to meet our licensing requirements we can't meet the needs of the community," said Shaner.

Caring Steps has 81 students enrolled and 126 on a waitlist. It has the capacity to serve them, but cannot.

The reason? In March 2020 it had 24 caregivers. Now it has only 11 and is struggling to find more.

"Daycare was free and I really miss that," said Gisele Angrge, a mom who immigrated from Brazil.

Gisele says she worries that child care issues now will impact the work futures of women.

"How can I grow if I can't make more hours because I don't have family here," she said.

"This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue. This is about investing in our people," said Walsh.

Walsh is promoting President Joe Biden's so-called American Families Plan that is being considered by Congress. It would fund universal preschool and provide direct support to low and middle-income families to ensure they pay no more than seven percent of their income to child care.

WXYZ spoke to critics of the plan who did not want to go on camera. They said they believe families should be self-reliant and the government should not increase spending on subsidizing childcare. Walsh says that isn't working.

"We've created a class of people who have and people who are poor. And what we need today is a pathway into the middle class," said Walsh.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Fudge in California

MBA Newslink: HUD, FHFA Heads Zero in On Housing Affordability, Appraisals
[By Mike Sorohan, 10/19/21]

SAN DIEGO—Few people have had more impact off the bat than HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Sandra Thompson.
Both inherited agencies this year that had shifted in mission direction under the Trump Administration. When President Joseph Biden promised to roll back much of the previous administration's policies, he put Fudge—formerly a member of Congress from Ohio; and Thompson, a career regulator—on the front lines.

"The mortgage banking industry plays a major role in bringing homeownership to Americans, and we at HUD are pleased to be your partners," Fudge said here at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Annual Convention & Expo. "We recognize the members of the MBA, and particularly, mortgage servicers, for supporting homeowners during this pandemic. We thank you for what you have done."

"Our work stands on the twin pillars of good lending: sustainability and affordability," Thompson said. "Each of these pillars is necessary for safe, sound and effective financing, and each strengthens the other. After all, a loan that a borrower cannot afford is unsustainable: it will stop performing. And loan products, like some of those sold in the first decade of the 2000s that reset from low teaser rates up to unsustainable payment schedules, or contained no income documentation, cannot reasonably be called affordable."

"Our work is more important than ever," Fudge said. "The reality is that it is increasingly difficult for people to achieve the dream of homeownership. Unfortunately, it is even more difficult for people of color. It is past time that we address America's shortage of affordable housing. We are charged to help those who need help. It is time to build up a new America that is better than before."

[….]

Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman in Seattle, Washington

KUOW Seattle: This Seattle woman wants to know: How can she get those small business grants?
[By Joshua McNichols, 10/20/21]

When politicians, including the Seattle mayor, stopped by Asha Gobana's small grocery store in Rainier Valley this week, Gobana told them she didn't know how to get the financial help they were touting.

"Where do I get it? How do I get it?" Gobana asked. She's the owner of Balageru International Mart, which sells East African foods.

Four million dollars are available for businesses like hers, as Seattle takes applications for its sixth round of grants to help small business owners survive the pandemic. The money will be given in $5,000, $10,000, and $20,000 grants.

Gobana thought she had applied for grants earlier during the pandemic. She received a government loan through her bank to cover costs. Some loans like that were converted to grants and the people who took them out no longer had to pay them back.

Hers was not. Only $3,000 of $13,000 was forgiven, and she said she doesn't understand. She worries she applied for the wrong kind of aid.

"I don't know the system," Gobana said.

"So, you even need the help on how do you even navigate it?" asked Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.

Durkan was with Isabella Casillas Guzman, who heads the Small Business Administration for President Joe Biden.

"We are launching a navigator program so that there's more local people who can connect with businesses like you and tell them about the programs that you can qualify for," Guzman said.

[….]