The Infrastructure Bill and IRA solved the aff

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has already provided $1.1 billion for dozens of infrastructure projects across Puerto Rico. That includes approximately $596.1 million for transportation – roads, bridges, public transit, ports, and airports – and $185 million for clean water. The Puerto Rico government also invested its ARP State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in important projects, including $223 million for water infrastructure, $100 million for road repairs, and $279 million to repair school buildings damaged by the 2020 earthquakes. And as of May 13, 2023, more than 600, 097 households are receiving affordable high-speed internet. Finally, under the Inflation Reduction Act, new possibilities for offshore wind are opening up along the coasts of Puerto Rico, allowing the Department of the Interior to explore wind lease sales in prime areas. Hosted the Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue to Advance Whole-of-Government Commitments to Puerto Rico In April 2022, President Biden named Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves to serve as the Administration’s Puerto Rico Economic Growth Coordinator. As part of that commitment, White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, White House Senior Advisor Julie Rodriguez, and Deputy Secretary Graves hosted Governor Pedro Pierluisi and members of his cabinet at the White House for the inaugural Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue in December 2022. This historic meeting brought together Puerto Rico’s leadership and the White House Working Group on Puerto Rico to endorse a slate of actions that the federal and territorial governments will jointly implement over the course of 2023, centered on: 1) workforce development, 2) infrastructure, energy and resilience, 3) building a diversified economy, and 4) improving governance and data. To advance these actions, Deputy Secretary Graves traveled to Puerto Rico in February 2023 to meet with government, civic, academic, community, and private sector leaders. During this visit, Deputy Secretary Graves, White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling, and Department of the Treasury officials jointly announced Puerto Rico’s approval for up to $109 million in State Small Business Credit Initiative funds, allowing the Puerto Rico Economic Development Bank to make loans and provide collateral for small and medium sized enterprises. Deputy Secretary Graves also announced a nearly $3 million award from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Connecting Minority Communities program to Universidad del Sagrado Corazón to bridge the digital divide at institutions of higher education. Delivered Unprecedented Relief and Made Lasting Investments for Puerto Rico’s Families, Workers, Municipalities, and Businesses Puerto Rico’s territorial and 78 municipal governments received $4 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to respond to the public health and economic impacts of the pandemic. These historic investments included over $600 million to reward workers with bonus pay and $143 million to help local governments maintain essential services and keep police and firefighters on the job. In addition, beginning in July 2022, public school teachers on the island started receiving a $1,000 monthly salary increase that was partly made possible through ARP. The ARP Emergency Rental Assistance Program delivered $250 million in rent and utility assistance through December 2022, providing 244,000 payments to households in Puerto Rico facing the threat of eviction. Additionally, thousands of homeowners are getting help through ARP’s Homeowner Assistance Fund, and ARP funds have also helped 750 childcare programs stay open. To boost workers and small businesses across the island, ARP significantly expanded Puerto Rico’s version of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), quadrupling benefits for workers through the first-ever federal investment in Puerto Rico’s EITC since the credit was established nearly 50 years ago. In addition, ARP invested in job training and economic development through an Economic Development Administration Good Jobs Challenge grant, awarded to UnidosUS to train Puerto Ricans for quality jobs in the growing construction and aerospace industries. Lastly, the Biden-Harris Administration delivered over $30 million in ARP funds to protect the earned pension benefits of 2,600 workers and retirees covered by the Gastronomical Workers Union Local 610 and Metropolitan Hotel Association Pension Fund based out of San Juan. To stimulate economic activity, the Small Business Administration (SBA) expanded their network of business assistance programs by funding two Women’s Business Centers serving female founders, investing $1 million in a Community Navigator pilot program for economic recovery, and licensing two Small Business Investment Companies to promote startup investment capital in Puerto Rico. SBA also provided over $6 billion in low-interest loans, economic relief, and grants to small businesses in Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in April 2023, the Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund awarded $226 million to 69 credit unions and one loan fund in Puerto Rico through the Equitable Recovery Program. To support Puerto Rico’s families, President Biden’s ARP broadened tax benefits at an unprecedented scale by expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in Puerto Rico to all families with at least one child, permanently bringing CTC benefits into parity with the mainland. In 2022, the Department of the Treasury and White House ARP Coordinator Gene Sperling engaged in extensive outreach to ensure as many families as possible in Puerto Rico received the CTC. As a result, over 250,000 families in Puerto Rico received the credit, a more than six-fold increase since before the passage of ARP, dramatically cutting child poverty. The average annual benefit was $4,700 per family, with more than $1.2 billion disbursed to families in Puerto Rico.