President Joe Biden signed a $460 billion funding measure that includes important criminal justice reform programs, including the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, and Second Chance Act, designed to improve outcomes for people returning from incarceration.
President Joe Biden has directed nearly $17b in funding to the Keystone State for energy conservation, clean water, more affordable medications, improved roads and bridges, better internet connectivity, and may more areas. “Infrastructure Week may have been a punchline but no more,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian said on a conference call with reporters.
The recently released Climate Powers Memo states the President Joe Biden has taken over 300 climate actions, the most in history. The Center For American Progress details the many ways Biden has taken strong action to protect the enviromment and address the climate crisis, many of which have appeared on this website previously.
While I generally avoid discussing the previous president, it is important to note that Donald Trump has recently asked oil executives for $1b in campaign contributions, and, in exchange, those executives have begun drafting executive actions that would, among other things, roll back as many of Biden’s actions as possible. The contrast is clear.
As of Result of President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, South Korea’s SK Hynix has announced that it will build an advanced chip-packaging facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, and expects to create up to 1,000 jobs. This is just one example of private enterprise investments created by the CHIPS and Science Act.
Happy Tax Day! While no one is ever excited to be calling the government regarding tax questions, sometimes, you need help from the IRS. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2022, increased funding for key aspects of the IRS. As a result, the averge call wait time has been reduced from 27 minutes in 2022 to 4 minutes in 2023, and the percentage of people speaking to an actual human has increased from 15% to 87% over the same period. 2 million more calls were answered in 2023 than 2022. It may not be exciting, but there is something to be said for basic competence.
In August, 2022 President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act, which gives potential relief to service members who were exposed to toxins in the line of duty, and to their families. In its second year, the PACT Act has driven a 30 percent increase in VA healthcare enrollment. According to The Wounded Warrior Project, the PACT Act represents the largest expansion of benefits for veterans and their survivors in decades.
March’s Jobs data is in, and it is, again, very good news. Thanks to President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, including several major pieces of legislation like the CHIPS and Sciences Act, the economy added 303,000 non-farm jobs in the month of March. That brings to over 15 million the number of jobs added to the economy since Biden became president. Not only that, but the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8%, extending what was already the longest stretch of sub-4% unemployment since the 1960s.
Among the many pro-environment tax incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden made sure to include a 15% minimum corporate tax on some of the largest corporations in the US, some of whom have previously found a way to pay no corporate taxes at all. Here’s an analysis of some of the most relevant provisions.
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which accomplishes many things in many areas of the economy, some of which have already been discussed here. Among the provisions is the cap on prescription drug expenses for Medicare Part D enrollees at $2,000 a year, starting next year.
Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act providing massive funding for climate related matters, President Joe Biden had signed many executive orders battling climate change and stimulating the economy at the same time, including, among other actions:
In December, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022, which reforms the Electoral Count Act to remedy the loopholes the previous president exploited to create chaos on January 6, 2021. Among other things, the law clarifies that the Vice President’s role in the process is “solely ministerial,” it clarifies the process by which states deliver electoral votes, and guarantees an expedited review of any claims by an aggrieved candidate.
Partially because of the CHIPS and Science Act, the economy has added 789,000 manufacturing jobs in the three years since President Joe Biden took office.
The manufacturing jobs comeback under Biden is the biggest since the early 1950s.
As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden enables Medicare to negotiate certain prescription drug prices, picking ten of the most purchased drugs on the market, starting in 2026. More drugs are intended to be part of this program each year.
The Inflation Reduction Act authorized an $80 Billion boost in the IRS budget. Fortune reports that the IRS now estimates that this boost will result in recovery of $560 Billion in unpaid taxes from wealthy tax cheats. All the while, the Republican Congress seeks to strip that funding out of the legislation.
In August, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, designed to strengthen American manufacturing and innovation. The act invests $280 billion to bolster US semiconductor capacity, catalyze R&D, and create regional high-tech hubs and a bigger, more inclusive STEM workforce. Almost immediately after Biden signed it, the private sector promised investment of over $200 billion in tech and manufacturing. The economy has gained manufacturing jobs at a pace not seen since the 1950s.
Update:
In the brutal Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, not only did the Supreme Court overrule Roe v. Wade, Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion stated his willingness to review previous cases protecting same sex and interracial marriage! Because of this, Congress passed, and President Joe Biden signed the Respect For Marriage Act, which enshrines rights for same sex and interracial marriages into law, and requires all 50 states and territories to recognize such marriages as valid.
Within 60 days of taking office, President Joe Biden signed into law The American Rescue Plan.
Among the many important provisions it contains are:
President Joe Biden ended a 30-year streak of federal inaction on gun violence by signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
The act created enhanced background checks, closed the “boyfriend” loophole, and provided funds for youth mental health.
See an article on the subject here.
Yes, we need to do more, but getting any kind of meaningful gun legislation in this political climate seemed impossible, and Biden did it.
Ripped from today’s (well, now yesterday’s) headlines. President Joe Biden has been pushing the elimination of lead pipes from our nation’s infrastructure since he took office, and continues that effort today, with the allocation of an additional $5.8 billion for this effort. This funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, out-of-pocket costs for insulin are capped at $35 per month prescription for enrollees of Medicare Part B and Part D.
Although President Joe Biden wasn’t able to extend that cap to people not on Medicare in the IRA, the political pressure he has brought to this fight has caused major drug manufacturers to cap the cost of prescriptions for insulin to $35 per month for millions of people not on Medicare.
In November, 2021 President Joe Biden succeeded in convincing a reluctant Senate to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
This legislation was a $1.2 trillion bipartisan package to increase investment in the national network of bridges and roads, airports, public transport, and national broadband internet, as well as waterways and energy systems.
As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the US has made a $369 billion investment in battling climate change, the largest such investment in U.S. history.
Included in the investments are:
For a deeper dive, here’s an article on the subject.
