Spend slow to start on Biden’s signature legislation, Politico

Politico goes deep on the state of spending under Biden’s signature legislation—the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS, and American Rescue Plan—heading into November’s election. The authors highlight the enormity of this legislation:

“Biden’s four signature laws provided $1.1 trillion in direct federal spending, largely for climate and infrastructure — a potentially transformative amount of money if allowed to reach fruition. In comparison, FDR’s New Deal cost $793 billion in 2021 dollars, according to an estimate published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.”

The article found that “less than 17 percent of the $1.1 trillion those laws provided for direct investments on climate, energy and infrastructure has been spent as of April, nearly two years after Biden signed the last of the statutes.”

Reminding Trump called the IRA the “biggest tax hike in history,” Politico reports that Biden and his Cabinet are racing across the country to attend groundbreakings of federally funded projects, including nearly $1.5 billion to restart a nuclear plant and $3 billion to remediate lead in drinking water.

Not all money appropriated by Biden’s legislation is immediately available; approximately $300 billion of infrastructure dollars are only available for obligation next year or later. Still, it even available funds are slow to be obligated; the administration is taking a ““with deliberation, with haste” approach. For example, the EPA has $40 billion of $42 billion in IRA funding yet to obligate.

Still, the Administration touts some accomplishments:

“Since Biden took office, companies have announced over $866 billion worth of investments in the industries the administration hopes to spur, including semiconductors, electric vehicles and clean energy manufacturing.”

It’s a worthwhile read.