Broadband Breakfast: In Chicago, Democratic Mayors Hail Biden’s Infrastructure Agenda
Jericho Casper, Broadband Breakfast
CHICAGO, August 21, 2024 – Democratic mayors credited President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday for infrastructure investment and job creation efforts that many of them said revived urban centers in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayors from Cleveland, San Antonio, and Phoenix said they regarded Biden as the most “pro-city president in the nation’s history” for lasting investments the administration made in high-speed internet, R&D tech hubs, roadways, transportation, and water through legislation including the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act.
“If it wasn’t for these investments, you wouldn't be seeing an economic comeback in cities across the country, like we've seen in my city,” said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, during a discussion hosted by the Democratic Mayors Association here at the Democratic National Convention.
Bibb noted that Cleveland used $20 million in ARPA funds to deploy citywide fiber network through a public-private partnership with SiFi Networks and local nonprofit Digital C. “Before the pandemic, Cleveland was ranked the least connected city in the country,” Bibb said.
Now the city plans to connect the majority of its residents to high-speed broadband, and announced it would offer an $18 monthly plan with 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) symmetrical speeds.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego highlighted the CHIPS and Sciences Act’s impact on her community. Signed into law in August 2022, the act was designed to boost semiconductor chip manufacturing and research in the U.S.
“Apple chips that were being made in Taiwan are now being manufactured in Phoenix, Arizona,” Gallego shared. The investment from the CHIPS Act established Phoenix as a semiconductor and tech hub, attracting Intel to establish a major facility in the region, which created more than 13,000 jobs.
“Every federal program can be a workforce development project if you do it correctly,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Nirenberg said that in response to widespread job losses during the pandemic, San Antonio used ARPA funds to create Ready to Work, a pilot program to train residents for careers in trades, construction, and manufacturing. Similarly, Cleveland invested $2 million of its ARPA funds to train workers for fiber deployment and green energy jobs.
The mayors praised the Biden administration for the flexibility given to cities to determine how best to use these funds for their communities.
“We've never been in a position as cities and mayors to see this type of relationship with an administration,” said Nirenberg.
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