Taking lessons from his time working in the Obama administration, President Biden is tempering promises of quick job creation with long-term reinvestment.

Learning from his experience as vice president, Joe Biden knows that "you can’t expect immediate results" when it comes to infrastructure spending and job creation, writes Jake Blumgart for Governing. "[H]istorically, public works projects have a complicated history when it comes to quickly getting a lot of people back to work." That makes infrastructure spending "bad stimulus spending" despite its long-term benefits.
The concept of "shovel-ready projects," a term popularized by President Obama in late 2008, proved deceptive. Research shows that in most areas of governance, "it took at least one year to set up a project and another two to three years to actually spend the money." Learning from these prior experiences, President Biden is taking a longer view. "The Biden administration’s rhetoric around the American Jobs Act is, obviously, about job creation. But the $2 trillion plan is not about juicing the economy in 2021, or even in the crucial midterm election year of 2022. Instead, it is meant to unfold over the course of a decade."
The public works programs of the New Deal era, according to Jason Scott Smith, assistant professor of history at the University of New Mexico, "are better understood not as unsuccessful state-employment measures, but rather as a strikingly effective method of state-sponsored economic development." By framing the American Jobs Act as long-term reinvestment, Biden is avoiding the "poor job of setting out expectations" that plagued the Obama administration.
FULL STORY: The Economic Lessons Biden Learned from Obama and Roosevelt

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure
If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.
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