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Two of the Biden administration’s signature pieces of legislation load billions of dollars across the country, investing in everything from new roads in Florida to broadband lines in Alaska to green energy projects in California.
But where that $442 billion (so far) will have the biggest effect is where the electorate has the least, likely to help Joe Biden in November, according to new Yahoo Finance research from the most recent White House data.
The biggest beneficiaries of the budget through the bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, when measured consistently with capital, are four states that Biden himself lost on at least 10 issues in 2020: Alaska, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.
Of the 18 states where citizens are expected to get the maximum benefit from this money on a capita basis, 12 were won by Donald Trump in 2020.
This geographic quirk highlights one of President Joe Biden’s most demanding situations in an election year: Americans who don’t feel, or are simply inspired, by his historic accomplishments in his three years in office.
To give a recent and notable example, a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll shows that Donald Trump won with a score of 42% to 38% on the question of who the electorate accepts as true the maximum for managing infrastructure.
That’s even after Biden signed a landmark infrastructure bill into law in 2021 and after four years in office that saw Trump take no significant action on the issue.
The White House will reintroduce Americans to Biden’s key accomplishments as the 2024 presidential crusade gathers momentum, spreading the message with a recent barrage of State of the Union messages, crusade shutdowns and a new $30 million publicity crusade.
‘Remember, the last president?'” President Biden asked his supporters for a recent stop. “He ran ‘Infrastructure Week’ for 4 years and did nothing. “
To map where the money went, Yahoo Finance examined White House data detailing disbursements from two signature Biden accomplishments: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Two other key Biden bills — the 2021 American Rescue Plan and the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act — were not included in the data.
The per capita impact of this spending was then calculated using population information from the US Census Bureau.
Of the projects the White House ties to an express location, transportation efforts are the most prevalent. These budgets are used for projects across the country, from the western states to the “Acela Corridor” along the East Coast.
This made Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg the biggest funder. He was stuck in front of the camera when the issue was raised in last week’s State of the Union address, and he’s traveling around the country to spread the word.
“I’ve never been to a press convention where there were whales jumping in the background,” he joked at a recent conference in Maui, Hawaii.
Obviously, the cash also caught the attention of “Amtrak Joe. ” The president has long been known for his interest in transportation, adding his love of exercise and his daily exercise from Washington to Delaware when he was a senator.
Delawareans will benefit from about $450 each in transportation funding from these laws, according to Yahoo Finance’s analysis.
That’s in line with many areas of the country but is below some more rural states that — on a per capita basis — are in line for the most funds.
Alaskans, for example, are expected to get about $2,500 in transportation cash as crews work to build new roads for remote citizens of the state.
The trend is even more notable on other issues. When it comes to broadband, the money is once again largely going to rural states.
The broadband budget also goes to urban spaces, as a program for the poorest Americans to pay their internet bills, no matter where they live. But Biden officials have long noted that the country’s rural spaces are where connectivity is a big fear and desires run deepest. .
“It’s so heartbreaking to spend time, as I’ve done, in rural America [where] there’s no broadband for miles, hundreds of miles,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who oversees much of that effort, said in a 2022 interview.
Other chunks of money (adding energy projects targeted under the Inflation Reduction Act) are being felt most in urban and coastal states.
But overall, consistent with the capitation numbers, they still heavily favor options like Wyoming, which Biden lost by more than a handicap in 2020.
The White House has also been closely tracking new private projects that have been announced since Biden took office.
The rate of those announcements grew steadily during Biden’s first two years, with hundreds of new projects launched around White House priorities like making semiconductors, EV batteries, and clean energy.
Other states are likely to feel the biggest impact, largely due to the large influx of investments in semiconductor projects. Arizona, Idaho, New York, Ohio and Texas are the sites of new semiconductor production efforts with billions in new investments.
In total, according to White House data, the United States has recorded $235 billion in new semiconductor investments since January 20, 2021. This cash comes just as the Biden-era law, the CHIP and Science Act of 2022, is just beginning to distribute cash. to further stimulate chip production in the United States.
Thus far, three smaller government manufacturing awards have been rolled out to BAE Systems (BAESY), Microchip Technology, and GlobalFoundries (GFS).
But the biggest subsidies will most likely go to the giant chipmakers in the coming weeks. Intel (INTC) could get more than $10 billion, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) could get more than $5 billion, according to recent Bloomberg reports.
Watch Biden continue to highlight those numbers while pointing out what he calls the GOP’s hypocrisy for touting cash when it comes to their states.
Biden brought it up during last week’s State of the Union address, jokingly telling Republican lawmakers, “if any of you don’t want that money in your districts, let me know.”
Ben Werschkul is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance in Washington. David Foster is a graphic designer for Yahoo Finance.
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