Evergreen Reporter

U.S. Representative Suzan DelBene (WA-1) issued the following announcement on July 1

Today, the House of Representatives passed the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), which invests more than $1.5 trillion in modern, sustainable infrastructure while creating millions of good-paying jobs, combating the climate crisis, and addressing disparities in urban, suburban, and rural communities.

This legislation contains affordable housing, smart city, and rural broadband priorities Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) has championed, including:

Affordable Housing

• Increases the Affordable Housing Tax Credit by more than 50% over two years, significantly boosting affordable housing production.
• Establishes a permanent minimum 4% credit rate, jumpstarting developments nationwide that are currently stalled, producing 126,000 additional affordable homes, and creating an estimated 157,000 new jobs over the next decade.
• Keeps developers and operators afloat by extending important compliance deadlines.
• Adds new housing incentives for rural and tribal communities and individuals at risk of homelessness.

DelBene is the lead sponsor of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (H.R. 3077), which will expand and strengthen the Affordable Housing Tax Credit to produce more affordable housing units and better serve at-risk and underserved communities.

Smart Cities

• Expands the Department of Commerce’s smart cities demonstration project to include small and medium cities and towns. Smart cities are communities that build an infrastructure to continuously improve the collection, aggregation, and use of data to improve the lives of their residents.
• Provides resources and technical assistance to local governments interested in implementing smart city technologies.
• Requires the Secretary of Energy to implement a pilot program to cities and communities to promote smart city or smart community technologies.

DelBene is the lead sponsor of the Smart Cities and Communities Act (H.R. 2636), which will enhance federal coordination of smart city programs, including reporting and demonstration of the value and utility of smart city systems.

Rural Broadband

• Invests $100 billion to deliver affordable, high-speed broadband Internet access to underserved communities.
• Narrows the ‘homework gap’ by connecting kids to remote learning with digital equipment and affordable broadband options, and connects school buses to Wi-Fi.
• Creates a 30% tax credit for state, local, and tribal governments for the operations and maintenance costs of government-owned broadband systems.

“Our communities are struggling with failing infrastructure and inequities in broadband access, public schools, and affordable housing for too long. The COVID-19 crisis and resulting recession are only exacerbating these long-standing issues,” said DelBene. “This bill provides a new, comprehensive vision for the future of American infrastructure and puts us all on a path to recovery from the COVID-19 recession.”

Other key provisions in the Moving Forward Act include:

• Nearly $500 billion investment to rebuild our transportation infrastructure by fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, improving safety, reducing gridlock, and putting the U.S. on a path toward zero-emissions transportation.
• $130 billion in school infrastructure targeted at high-poverty schools with facilities that endanger the health and safety of students and educators.
• $70 billion to transform our electric grid to accommodate more renewable energy, strengthen existing infrastructure, and help develop an electric vehicle charging network.
• $30 billion to upgrade hospitals to increase capacity and strengthen care, help community health centers respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies, support the Indian Health Service’s infrastructure, and increase capacity for community-based care.   
• $25 billion to ensure all communities have clean drinking water and to help remove dangerous contaminants from local water systems. 
• $25 billion to modernize the United States Postal Service infrastructure and operations.
• $10 billion to make sure that child care settings are safe, appropriate, and able to comply with current and future public health directives.

A fact sheet on the Moving Forward Act is available here, and you can find the full bill text here.

Original source can be found here.