The Latest News From The White House Intergovernmental Affairs Office

President Biden and Vice President Harris are delivering on their commitment to lower costs for American families. Through the historic legislation signed into law by President Biden (ARP, IRA, BIL), Americans are experiencing lower health care, home heating, and high-speed internet costs – affecting tens of millions of seniors, students, and families month-over-month. This week alone, the Biden Administration is announcing key actions to help blunt the impacts of inflation on American households and give families more breathing room.

• Lowering health care and prescription drug costs: The Department of Health and Human Services released new data showing that over 3.4 million seniors and people with disabilities are likely to save an average of $70 per year because of the Inflation Reduction Act’s provision that went into effect in January that allows Medicare beneficiaries to get recommended vaccines for free. HHS also announced that producers of 27 drugs – or 9% of all Medicare Part B drugs – will need to pay rebates back to Medicare because they raised their prices faster than inflation. This provision of the Inflation Reduction Act is putting a critical check on drug companies that try to excessively raise their prices and squeeze American seniors. And, some Medicare beneficiaries that take these drugs will save between $2 to $390 per dose of medication starting in April.

• Lowering high-speed internet costs: The Federal Communication Commission released additional funds to support the Affordable Connectivity Program, a program that is delivering affordable high-speed internet to over 16 million households, saving American families over $500 million per month. Last week, the FCC released a tranche of $66 million to help more people access the program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

• Lowering home energy costs: This week, HHS released over a half a billion dollars in LIHEAP funds to states to cover American families’ home heating costs. President Biden and Vice President Harris have significantly increased funding for the LIHEAP program, including $500 million in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $4.5 billion in ARPA to give Americans breathing room on their winter heating bills. Over the past year, LIHEAP has helped more than 5.3 million households on heating and cooling bills, and on weatherization services.

Fact Sheet on President Biden's Prescription Drug Law Saving Millions
State by State Vaccine Savings
State by State Insulin Savings

President Biden Announces New Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and Make Our Communities Safer

This week, in Monterey Park, California, President Biden announced an Executive Order with the goal of increasing the number of background checks conducted before firearm sales, moving the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation. The Executive Order will also keep more guns out of dangerous hands by increasing the effective use of “red flag” laws, strengthen efforts to hold the gun industry accountable, and accelerate law enforcement efforts to identify and apprehend the shooters menacing our communities. President Biden also encouraged the Federal Trade Commission to issue a public report analyzing how gun manufacturers market firearms to minors.

President Biden traveled to Monterey Park to grieve with the families and community impacted by the mass shooting that claimed 11 lives and injured nine others in January. Monterey Park is part of a growing list of communities all across the country that are forever changed due to gun violence—not only mass shootings, but also daily acts of gun violence that may not make national headlines.

Fact Sheet on President Biden's Actions to Reduce Gun violence and Make Our Communities Safer

The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Lower High-Speed Internet Costs

This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new funding to lower the cost of high-speed internet, releasing $73 million in Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grants to help more Americans sign up for the Affordable Connectivity Program and save on monthly internet costs.

In the 21st century, affordable, reliable high-speed internet is key to opportunity – to access education, healthcare, work, precision agriculture and keep in touch with loved ones. Still, too many are left without high-speed internet because they lack the infrastructure, or are inhibited by high costs or lack of technological skills. In particular, these inequities impact communities of color, rural communities and older Americans where the lack of affordable, reliable high-speed internet contributes to significant economic, health and other disparities.

Already, 16.75 million households are saving over $500 million per month on high-speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program. Now, the Biden-Harris Administration is releasing an additional $73 million in Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grants to help more Americans sign up for the program and save on internet costs. These investments include:  

• $66 million in the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Program to drive awareness and enrollment in the country’s newest and largest broadband affordability program in the nation’s history.  Building on its current community partnerships, the FCC is providing financial support to partner organizations nationwide to serve as trusted community messengers for the Affordable Connectivity Program and equip them with funding to pursue innovative outreach strategies to reach historically underserved communities, including money set aside for outreach to households on Tribal lands. The FCC selected 197 applicants representing 50 states and territories to pursue a broad range of outreach projects to promote the Affordable Connectivity Program. Partner organizations will now be able to use grant funds to conduct digital campaigns, door-to-door canvassing, operate phone banks, distribute direct mail, and host ACP application enrollment and outreach events. Of the 197 applicants selected for funding, 177 represent governmental and non-governmental entities from the National Competitive Outreach Program (NCOP), with $60 million in funding. The remaining 20 represent governmental and non-governmental funding recipients from the Tribal Competitive Outreach Program (TCOP), which is providing over $6 million in funding for ACP outreach and enrollment support targeting eligible households that live on qualifying Tribal lands.

Fact Sheet on the Biden-Harris Administration's New Actions to Lower High-Speed Internet Costs 

White House IGA Newsletter 2/19

New Data Show 8.2 Million Fewer Americans Struggling with Medical Debt Under the Biden-⁠Harris Administration

The Administration’s work to strengthen the Affordable Care Act along with new consumer protections lead to continued progress reducing the burden of medical debt.

This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new report that shows that the number of Americans with medical debt on their credit reports fell by 8.2 million from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2022. This week's report is consistent with a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found that the number of Americans who are part of families having trouble paying their medical bills declined by 5.5 million between 2020 and 2021. One driver of these declines is the significant increase in the number of insured Americans over this period, a result of the President’s strategy of protecting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and lowering health care costs. The decline also reflects continued actions by the CFPB to highlight problems with inaccurate reporting of debt in collections and put the industry on notice to correct their behavior.

The new data also underscore the importance of the Biden-Harris Administration’s government-wide initiative to reduce the burden of medical debt. Following the Vice President’s April 2022 announcement, medical debt was directly relieved for many low-income Americans. And, informed by research showing that medical debt is not a reliable predictor of financial health, federal agencies are working to eliminate the use of medical debt to assess creditworthiness for participation in government lending programs.

These reductions in medical debt will provide real benefits to many Americans. Reducing medical debt directly impacts household finances by improving credit scores and access to credit. And research shows that households that have their medical debt relieved see improvements in access to medical care, and in physical and mental health outcomes. Since medical debt is disproportionally held among low-income communities, reductions in the burden of medical debt helps advance financial and health equity.

The CFPB report also shows that medical debt still accounts for more than 50% of debt in collections tradelines, exceeding the number of debt in collections tradelines from all other sources combined, including credit cards, personal loans, utilities, and phone bills. Getting sick or taking care of loved ones should not mean financial hardship for American families. That is why the Administration has—and will continue—to take action to ease the burden of medical debt and protect consumers from predatory collection practices.

Full Fact Sheet on Reducing the Burden of Medical Debt 

This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its latest set of actions aimed at creating a convenient, reliable and Made-in-America electric vehicle (EV) charging network so that the great American road trip can be electrified.  These steps will help the United States meet President Biden’s ambitious goals to confront the climate crisis, by building a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers along America’s highways and in our communities and have EVs make up at least 50% of new car sales by 2030, all while advancing an industrial strategy to continue to build-out the domestic EV and EV charging industry. The path to net-zero emissions by 2050 is creating good-paying manufacturing and installation jobs on the way.   

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $7.5 billion in EV charging, $10 billion in clean transportation, and over $7 billion in EV battery components, critical minerals, and materials. These flagship programs complement the Inflation Reduction Act’s landmark support for advanced batteries and new and expanded tax credits for purchases of EVs and to support installations of charging infrastructure, as well as dozens of other federal initiatives designed to drive domestic manufacturing and build a national network of EV charging. The result is that the future of American transportation is on track to be cleaner, safer, more affordable, and more reliable than ever before. This week's announcements are a further demonstration of the President’s successful industrial strategy, ensuring that the clean energy transition is powered by American manufacturing and good-paying union jobs. 

Because of President Biden’s leadership and record federal investment, EV sales have tripled and the number of publicly available charging ports has grown by at least 40% since he took office. There are now more than three million EVs on the road and over 130,000 public chargers across the country. Further accelerating the buildout of a convenient, reliable charging network is critically important to make electric vehicle charging a seamless experience. This week, companies including Tesla, General Motors, EVgo, Pilot, Hertz and bp, among others, are announcing new commitments to expand their networks by thousands of public charging ports in the next two years, using private funds to complement federal dollars and putting the nation’s EV charging goals even closer within reach.  

These announcements build on the well over $100 billion that the private sector has invested in electric vehicle, battery, and EV charging manufacturing in the United States to date. This week's announcements are evidence of the President’s successful industrial strategy, ensuring that federal funds are attracting private investment to ensure the clean energy transition is powered by American manufacturing and good-paying union jobs. Combined with investments in battery manufacturing and tax credits for electric vehicle purchases and charging infrastructure driven by the Inflation Reduction Act, these programs are key to achieving the Administration’s climate goals.

Full Fact Sheet on New Standards and Major Progress for a National Network of Electric Vehicle Chargers

Biden Boom Continues: Another Week of Massive Private Sector Investments in American Manufacturing

This week, we saw more evidence that an American manufacturing boom—thanks to the President’s economic agenda—continues to take hold all across the country.

1. Boeing announced one of the largest orders in the company’s history: a purchase of over 200 aircraft through an agreement between Air India and Boeing valued at $34 billion at list price. The purchase will support over one million American jobs across 44 states, and many of those jobs won’t require a four year degree.

2. Ford announced it will build a $3.5 billion factory in Marshall, Michigan that will employ at least 2,500 workers to make advanced batteries for electric vehicles.

3. Texas Instruments announced it would build a new, $11 billion semiconductor plant in Lehi, Utah. manufacturing in Utah.

These investments—which build on the hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment announced since President Biden took office—will lead to good-paying jobs that American can raise a family on, the revitalization of entire communities that have often been left behind, and America leading the world again in the industries that drive the future.

As President Biden often asks, “Where is it written that the United States of America can’t be the manufacturing capital of the world?”

President Biden Addresses America’s County Officials at the 2023 National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference

This week, President Biden addressed nearly 2,000 elected and appointed county officials at the 2023 National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference for the second year in a row. President Biden referenced his roots as a former county official for New Castle County and spoke about his economic plan and the importance of the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. He highlighted the $65.1 billion in direct funding from the American Rescue Plan that was allocated to counties, citing Ramsey County in Minnesota, Los Angeles County in California, Travis County in Texas, and Pierce County in Washington as examples of the program’s success.
 
During the President’s remarks, which happened to fall on the five-year anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, he also took time to acknowledge the Michigan State University tragedy, once again calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms.
 
Remarks by President Biden at the National Association of Counties (NACo) Conference
 
The day before, White House ARP Implementation Coordinator Gene Sperling, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, and John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, participated in a panel moderated by NACo President Denise Winfrey to discuss the implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
 
Read NACo’s Press Release about the Panel
 
Other speakers at this year’s NACo Conference included Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Biden-⁠Harris Administration Deploys Additional Federal Resources to East Palestine, Ohio

The Biden-Harris Administration has mobilized a robust, multi-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio.

Within hours of the Norfolk Southern train derailment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deployed a team to East Palestine to support state and local emergency and environmental response efforts. The Department of Transportation (DOT) also arrived on scene to investigate what led to the derailment. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been closely coordinating with the emergency operations center, Ohio Emergency Management Agency, and Federal partners.

As President Biden told Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro soon after the derailment, the Federal Government stands ready to provide any additional federal assistance the states may need. This week, in response to Governor DeWine’s and the Ohio congressional delegation’s request on February 16 for additional federal public health support, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced they are deploying a team of medical personnel and toxicologists to conduct public health testing and assessments. The team will support Federal, state, and local officials already on the ground to evaluate individuals who were exposed or potentially exposed to chemicals and help ensure timely communications to the public.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting the people of East Palestine every step of the way, and holding Norfolk Southern accountable. Each Federal agency is playing its unique role in this task.

Full Fact Sheet on Biden-⁠Harris Administration Resources Deployed to East Palestine, Ohio

President Biden Signs Executive Order to Strengthen Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Across the Federal Government

On his first day in office, President Biden signed Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. That Order emphasized the enormous human costs of systemic racism and persistent poverty, and provided a powerful and unprecedented mandate for all federal agencies to launch a whole-of-government approach to equity. Over the past two years, agencies have taken historic steps toward ensuring that federal programs are serving the American people in an equitable and just manner and supporting communities that have been locked out of opportunity. Through the implementation of landmark legislation and historic executive action, the Biden-Harris Administration is working to make real the promise of America for everyone—including rural communities, communities of color, Tribal communities, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, women and girls, and communities impacted by persistent poverty.

Despite the meaningful progress that the Biden-Harris Administration has made, the reality is that underserved communities—many of whom have endured generations of discrimination and disinvestment—still confront unacceptable barriers to equal opportunity and the American Dream.  It is imperative that we reject the narrow, cramped view of American opportunity as a zero-sum game. When any segment of society is denied the full promise of America, our entire Nation is held back. But when we lift each other up, we are all lifted up. As the President has said: “Advancing equity is not a one-year project. It’s a generational commitment.”  

To strengthen the federal government’s ability to address the barriers that underserved communities continue to face, today, President Biden signed a new Executive Order, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. This second Order reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to deliver equity and build an America in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

Full Fact Sheet on President Biden's Executive Order to Strengthen Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Across the Federal Government

Statement from President Joe Biden on Tyre Nichols

Statement from President Joe Biden on Tyre Nichols

Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols’ death. It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day. 
 
My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols’ family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss. The footage that was released this evening will leave people justifiably outraged. Those who seek justice should not to resort to violence or destruction. Violence is never acceptable; it is illegal and destructive. I join Mr. Nichols’ family in calling for peaceful protest. 
 
I spoke with RowVaughn Wells and Rodney Wells, Mr. Nichols’ mother and stepfather, this afternoon. There are no words to describe the heartbreak and grief of losing a beloved child and young father. Nothing can bring Mr. Nichols back to his family and the Memphis community. But Mr. and Mrs. Wells, Mr. Nichols’ son, and his whole family deserve a swift, full, and transparent investigation. 
 
We must do everything in our power to ensure our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all. Real and lasting change will only come if we take action to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again. That is why I called on Congress to send the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to my desk. When Senate Republicans blocked that bill, I signed an executive order that mandated stricter use of force standards and accountability provisions for federal law enforcement, as well as measures to strengthen accountability at the state and local level.

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Plan to Reduce Homelessness 25% by 2025

U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 19, 2022

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After Halting Rapid Rise in Homelessness, Biden-Harris Administration Announces Plan to Reduce Homelessness 25% by 2025

Today, the Biden-Harris administration released a federal plan for ending homelessness in America that starts with the ambitious goal of reducing homelessness 25% by 2025. All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness builds on the success of previous plans and will do more than any previous federal effort to systemically prevent homelessness and combat the systemic racism that has created racial and ethnic disparities in homelessness.

“My plan offers a roadmap for not only getting people into housing but also ensuring that they have access to the support, services, and income that allow them to thrive,” said President Biden. “It is a plan that is grounded in the best evidence and aims to improve equity and strengthen collaboration at all levels.”

President Biden encourages state and local governments to use All In, which was developed by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), as a blueprint for creating their own plans to prevent and end homelessness and setting their own ambitious goals for 2025.

All In recommits the federal government to strategies that have been proven to work, like “Housing First”—the model of care that treats housing as the immediate solution to homelessness, but not the only solution. Once housed, many people need support to stay housed—from health care and job training to legal and education assistance. This model works because it treats people with dignity, personalizes their care, and recognizes that—without housing—every other aspect of a person’s life suffers.

The release of the plan coincides with the week of Homeless Person’s Memorial Day, which commemorates the people who have lost their life while living without a home. People who experience homelessness die nearly 30 years earlier than the average American and at the average age that Americans died in 1900. All In responds to homelessness like a life-and-death crisis rooted in housing and health problems—not a crime for the justice system to solve.

While homelessness is deadly, it is also preventable. The pandemic proved the power of prevention: The Biden-Harris administration’s response to COVID—including emergency rental assistance for people at risk of eviction and direct cash assistance for most Americans—prevented millions from losing their homes and kept evictions at pre-pandemic levels. All In aims to further fix systems and failed policies in order to prevent homelessness, or the risk of it, long before it happens.

All In was built from the ground up and shaped by public input from more than 500 people who have experienced homelessness as well as leaders, providers, advocates, developers, and other partners from more than 600 communities, tribes, and territories. The plan is based on more than 1,500 online comments and more than 80 listening sessions that told USICH the federal government needs to:

Urgently address the basic needs of people in crisis;Expand the supply of and access to affordable housing and high-quality support;Build better systems to prevent people from losing their home in the first place;Collaborate across sectors, systems, and jurisdictions;Rely on data and evidence that show what works; andInclude people who have experienced homelessness in the policymaking process to dismantle systems that create disparities.

“Nobody—no veteran, no American—should experience homelessness in the greatest country in the world,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, the chair of USICH, which developed All In with 19 federal agencies. “Together, we’ve driven down veteran homelessness by 55% since 2010, showing that we know how to tackle this issue if we all work together. Under President Biden’s leadership, we are going to build on that momentum and drive toward the day when every American has a good, safe place to call home.”

After the Obama-Biden administration released and implemented the nation’s first federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, homelessness steadily and significantly dropped from 2010 to 2016. Since 2016, homelessness has been on the rise. But after two years of unprecedented federal investment, the Biden-Harris administration has begun to halt the rapid rise and now has a plan to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025. According to the 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR)—which reveals the pandemic’s impact on homelessness and was released today by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—582,462 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. That represents an increase of 2,034 people—less than 1% since before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

“Everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home. After years of steep rises in homelessness and amid historic challenges that included a global pandemic, the data show that we can make progress even under the most difficult circumstances,” said HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, who served as chair of USICH during the development of All In. “We have a long way to go with systems to fix however the Biden-Harris administration’s historic investments represent our commitment to addressing homelessness and the underlying racial inequities. All In is our action plan to speed up the progress.”

In the last two years, the Biden-Harris administration has made unprecedented efforts to end homelessness, which include the White House Housing Supply Action Plan that aims to close the housing supply gap in 5 years; the American Rescue Plan that President Biden signed to deliver one of the largest investments in ending homelessness in U.S. history; and the House America initiative that is on track to find permanent housing for more than 100,000 people experiencing homelessness and add more than 20,000 units of affordable housing into the pipeline by the end of this month. 

Although overall homelessness remained flat from January 2020 to January 2022, unsheltered homelessness—which includes people living in cars and tents—rose by 3%. As homelessness has become more visible, there has been a troubling rise in state and local laws that criminalize and exacerbate homelessness by making it illegal for people without a home to do certain activities in public that are otherwise legal in the setting of a home: sleeping, sitting, eating. All In serves as a more effective alternative to criminalization.

Today, USICH and the White House also announced a new initiative to help cities and states reduce unsheltered homelessness. The 19 federal agencies that make up USICH will work with select state and local governments to accelerate the implementation and effectiveness of strategies to get people off the streets and into homes.

“Housing should be treated as a human right,” said USICH Executive Director Jeff Olivet. “Many Americans ask, ‘Is it possible to end homelessness?’ The answer is, yes, the United States can end homelessness by fixing systems—not by blaming the people being failed by them. With All In, the Biden-Harris administration outlined a set of strategies and actions for doing just that. Now we must scale what works and develop new and creative solutions to build a future where no one experiences the tragedy and indignity of homelessness—and everyone has a safe, stable, accessible, and affordable home.”

“The evidence shows that stable housing is essential to health and well-being. Like many health conditions, homelessness is preventable, and I am proud to be part of an administration that acknowledges the power of prevention,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who serves as vice chair of USICH.

USICH will host webinars in 2023—starting in January—to help partners and communities use All In to develop local and systems-levels plans to prevent and end homelessness, set state and local goals to reduce homelessness by 2025, hold the federal government accountable, and learn more about federal programs, strategies, and actions to prevent and end homelessness.

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