Biden to sign order to prioritise distressed ‘left-behind communities’

Outgoing US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Sunday aimed at prioritising government resources to help economically distressed American communities — a day before he leaves the White House.

Biden’s order targets so-called “Left-Behind Communities” and aims to help incoming President Donald Trump, who will oversee significant spending on infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, broadband internet and other programs approved during Biden’s presidency.

By one estimate, 15 per cent of the US population — around 50 million Americans — live in a distressed zip code, which is measured by poverty, unemployment, education, abandoned homes, median income and declines in jobs and businesses.

The White House touted a number of programs funded over the last four years including $54 billion in investments to energy communities — coal, oil and gas, and power plant areas — as well as $210 million announced last week for six new tech hubs, $525m for job training in distressed areas and billions in infrastructure for distressed regions.

Biden’s order prioritises left-behind communities for economic development funding including those “facing economic distress, undergoing industrial transitions, emerging as innovation hubs, and rebuilding from natural disasters”.

“It’s not splashy. It’s just fulfilling his determination to help left-behind communities, particularly in the heartland, make comebacks,” said White House economic adviser Lael Brainard in an interview.

The commerce department under Biden has awarded $700m for “tech hubs” seeking to spread the benefits of tech sector growth beyond traditional hubs from California’s Silicon Valley to Boston and made other major investments.

Biden said in a statement that his administration “made historic investments to help left-behind communities, such as distressed areas, factory towns, and coal communities, turn setbacks into comebacks”.

His order directs a whole-of-government coordination of federal investments in left-behind communities and creates a “No Wrong Door” to help distressed areas identify resources across the federal government.

It also tells federal employees in areas that recently suffered natural disasters to identify funding opportunities to address long-term economic development and infrastructure needs.

“This locks down the things that we learned about how to do this work well and what gives these communities the best chance of success,” Brainard said.

Trump in 2018 signed his own executive order that created a White House Opportunity and Revitalisation Council to address concerns about distressed communities saying “despite the growing national economy, these communities are plagued by high poverty levels, failing schools, and a scarcity of jobs”.

The Republican president has vowed to cut regulations and hike tariffs during his second term as part of a plan to boost the US economy.