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11:16 A.M. EDT

Q    Mr. President, how was your meeting with Abigail?  Can you talk about your meeting with Abigail a little bit?

We’re told that you met with Abigail, the little — the little girl that was held hostage.

THE PRESIDENT: I’m sorry, I can’t hear you (inaudible).

Q    Abigail.  You met with Abigail the other day.

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

Q    The little — the little girl.  How did that go?

THE PRESIDENT:  That went really well.  Her dad sent me — her — excuse me — her family sent me a note saying she was riding home and she said, “You know, I love Joe Biden.”

Q    We’re told that she did a lot of playing.

THE PRESIDENT:  She did.

Q    And had you seen — can you discuss that a little bit.  Was she outside, inside?  She was playing a lot?

THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, she was.  We had her on the swings.  She was pla- — swinging around in the Oval Office.  She was really good.

Q    Have you seen the video of the hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin with the missing arm?  Have you seen that video of that hostage?  Any reaction?

THE PRESIDENT:  I haven’t, but I know about it.  I haven’t physically seen it.

11:17 A.M. EDT

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Today’s report shows the American economy remains strong, with continued steady and stable growth. The economy has grown more since I took office than at this point in any presidential term in the last 25 years—including 3% growth over the last year—while unemployment has stayed below 4% for more than two years. But we have more work to do. Costs are too high for working families, and I am fighting to lower them. I took on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug and health care costs. I’m banning hidden junk fees that corporations use to rip off families in air travel and banking. And I have a plan to lower housing costs by building 1 million new homes. Congressional Republicans have no plan to lower costs. They are fighting to give the wealthy and big corporations more tax cuts while cutting programs like Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. They think the best way to grow the economy is from the top down. The American people know we need to build it from the middle out and the bottom up, so the middle class has a fair shot and no one is left behind.

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Today’s report shows the American economy remains strong, with continued steady and stable growth. The economy has grown more since I took office than at this point in any presidential term in the last 25 years—including 3% growth over the last year—while unemployment has stayed below 4% for more than two years. But we have more work to do. Costs are too high for working families, and I am fighting to lower them. I took on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug and health care costs. I’m banning hidden junk fees that corporations use to rip off families in air travel and banking. And I have a plan to lower housing costs by building 1 million new homes. Congressional Republicans have no plan to lower costs. They are fighting to give the wealthy and big corporations more tax cuts while cutting programs like Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. They think the best way to grow the economy is from the top down. The American people know we need to build it from the middle out and the bottom up, so the middle class has a fair shot and no one is left behind.

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We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for over 200 days. They include our own citizens.  The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern.

We emphasize that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities. Gazans would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions.

We strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts in order to bring our people home.  We reiterate our call on Hamas to release the hostages, and let us end this crisis so that collectively we can focus our efforts on bringing peace and stability to the region.

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We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for over 200 days. They include our own citizens.  The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern.

We emphasize that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities. Gazans would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions.

We strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts in order to bring our people home.  We reiterate our call on Hamas to release the hostages, and let us end this crisis so that collectively we can focus our efforts on bringing peace and stability to the region.

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Today, President Biden will announce four new Workforce Hubs to ensure all Americans can access the good jobs created by the President’s Investing in America agenda, which includes the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. President Biden will make the announcement during his visit to Syracuse, New York, to highlight a CHIPS and Science Act preliminary agreement with Micron to dramatically expand semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. The Upstate New York region will be one of the four new Workforce Hubs, in addition to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the state of Michigan.

Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, private companies have announced over $825 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments, on top of $478 billion already announced by the Administration for clean energy and infrastructure projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. These investments are projected to create hundreds of thousands of good jobs—many of which do not require a college degree. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that all workers—including women, people of color, veterans, and those that have been historically left behind–have equitable access to those job opportunities and the training and skills needed to fill them.
 
Today’s announcement also builds on the inaugural five Investing in America Workforce Hubs in Columbus, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Augusta, and Phoenix that First Lady Jill Biden announced last May. Over the last year, the inaugural Hubs have generated dozens of significant commitments to create pipelines to good jobs, including an initiative to train 10,000 skilled construction workers in Columbus, Ohio, the first-ever registered apprenticeship program in semiconductor manufacturing at TSMC in Phoenix, and project labor agreements on $9 billion worth of infrastructure projects across Maryland. In each of the four new Hubs, the Administration will expand the successful models developed in the first round of Workforce Hubs and will continue to collaborate with state and local elected officials and community leaders to drive effective place-based workforce development efforts that are essential to the President’s vision of building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.
 
The next four Investing in America Workforce Hubs are:  

• Upstate New York: Upstate New York has emerged as a growing hub for semiconductor manufacturing, with record-breaking investments throughout the region. To date, companies have announced hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments to regain American leadership in chips manufacturing since President Biden signed his CHIPS and Science Act. And today, President Biden is announcing a $6.1 billion preliminary agreement of terms with Micron to invest in semiconductor manufacturing in New York and Idaho, which will create over 70,000 jobs. The Department of Commerce, with support from the Departments of Education and Labor, will stand up a Workforce Hub to help meet the training needs of this nascent industry and related investments in the region by fostering collaborations with partners such as labor unions, employers, and education and training providers.
• Michigan: The state of Michigan has long been the engine of the American auto industry — and the good-paying union jobs that built the American middle class. As the country accelerates into an electric vehicle (EV) future, President Biden is committed to ensuring that the workers, unions, and businesses that have historically powered the auto industry lead the next generation of clean vehicles. President Biden strongly believes that auto companies transitioning to new technology should retool, reboot, and rehire in the same factories and in the same communities with comparable wages. Building on significant efforts underway – including President Biden’s $15.5 billion investment in the retooling of existing auto plants and rehiring of existing workers for the EV transition –  the Department of Energy and Department of Labor will partner with the State of Michigan to launch an Electric Vehicle Workforce Hub.
• Milwaukee: Last December, the City of Milwaukee announced that—thanks to funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and in response to proposed rulemaking from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)— the City would reduce its timeline for replacing 100% of its lead pipes from 60 years to the 10 years outlined in the proposed rule. This announcement aligns with President Biden’s broader goal to remove all lead pipes across the nation within a decade. The EPA, with support from the Department of Transportation (DOT), will stand up a Workforce Hub to ensure the city has the skilled workers needed to accomplish this ambitious lead pipes replacement project and invest in clean water infrastructure in Milwaukee.
• Philadelphia: The City of Philadelphia has received billions of dollars in funding for public infrastructure—including clean water infrastructure and improved roadway safety. DOT and EPA will co-lead this Hub to ensure the city has strong workforce pipelines for all residents to access good jobs replacing lead pipes and investing in construction and infrastructure.

These new Workforce Hubs will align with the Roadmap to Support Good Jobs, the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive approach to ensure that every American—whether they go to college or not—has equitable access to high-quality training, education, and services that provide a path to a good career without leaving their community. A new analysis released today from the Council of Economic Advisors outlines the economics behind the Administration’s workforce strategy and underscores how it has led to record-breaking job growth.

Progress to Date
The Investing in America Workforce Hubs build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s existing whole-of-government effort to advance high-quality workforce development, including:
Building new pipelines to connect Americans to good jobs

• The Administration has invested more than $440 million since the President took office  to expand Registered Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, supporting the education and training needs of more than 1 million apprentices.
• President Biden signed a Registered Apprenticeship Executive Order to bolster apprenticeships in the federal workforce.
• The Department of Education launched the first-ever Career-Connected High School grants program, supporting 19 districts and states reimagining the high school experience to better connect to career pathways.
• The Department of Labor has provided $200 million in Strengthening Community College grants since 2021, supporting quality workforce programs around the country.
• The Department of Labor released the High Road Training Program Map to spotlight high-quality training programs and show where they are located relative to projects mobilized by the Investing in America agenda.
• In January, the White House announced new commitments to its Advanced Manufacturing Sprint, including 150 new advanced manufacturing-related Registered Apprenticeship programs and occupations have been created or are newly under development, and more than 4,700 new apprentices hired in advanced manufacturing occupations.

Making place-based workforce investments so every community can meet its foundational labor needs
In addition to the nine Investing in America Workforce Hubs that are training residents for growing industries like clean energy and manufacturing, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Announced the designation of 31 communities across the country as Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs).
• Announced the 22 finalists of the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program. Recompete will invest $200 million in economic and workforce development projects that connect workers to good jobs in geographically diverse and persistently distressed communities across the country. 
• Stood up the National Semiconductor Training Center, which will deploy $5 billion in semiconductor-related research, development, and workforce needs to deliver on the CHIPS and Science Act.
• Invested tens of billions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan in workforce development strategies. Through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which provided funding to every single local government across the country, more than 2,000 state and local governments have invested over $13 billion in workforce development and worker supports projects.
• Funded 32 coalitions across the country through the American Rescue Plan’s $500 million Good Jobs Challenge. As of December 2023, over 11,000 participants have entered training programs as a direct result of the program and thousands of workers have secured good, quality jobs in high-demand industries like construction, manufacturing, clean tech, forestry, and healthcare.

Boosting job quality to support recruitment and retention

• For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Department of Labor updated its Davis-Bacon regulations to modernize and strengthen prevailing wage rates for workers on federally funded construction projects, which will raise wages for 1 million construction workers over time.
• The National Labor Relations Board issued a decision announcing a new framework for union representation proceedings—where if an employer commits any unfair labor practices during a representation election, the Board will order the employer to recognize and bargain with the union, rather than re-running the election.
• The Department of Energy is requiring grant applicants to submit Community Benefits Plans to access Investing in America funding.
• Nearly all of the significant construction programs contained in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act require or strongly incentivize the use of Davis-Bacon prevailing wages.
• The Inflation Reduction Act offers incentives that increase the value of clean energy tax credits by five times if employers pay prevailing wages and employ registered apprentices.
• The Department of Commerce required major CHIPS and Science Act awardees provide high-quality child care to their employees.
• The American Rescue Plan provided $24 billion to help child care providers keep their doors open – including over $2 billion for higher pay, hiring or retention bonuses, or other expanded benefits for care workers. Recent analysis shows that this funding led to an increase in the labor force participation rate of mothers with young children of about 3 percentage points relative to similar groups.

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Today—on World Malaria Day—we recommit to ending this disease for everyone, everywhere.
 
Malaria is one of the world’s deadliest diseases. In 1951, the United States eliminated malaria in our country. And with strong bipartisan support in Congress, we’ve led the fight to eliminate this disease worldwide—saving nearly 12 million lives and preventing more than two billion infections since 2000.
 
But despite this progress, nearly half the global population remains vulnerable to malaria—living in constant fear that they will lose their lives because of a mosquito bite. And last year, after two decades of no domestically-acquired cases of malaria, ten cases were reported in the United States. While the individuals were successfully treated, and the spread was halted, it was a solemn reminder of the urgent need to continue preventing and treating the disease globally.
 
That is exactly what my Administration is doing. We’ve expanded the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, and are now partnering with 30 countries to bring life-saving tools and treatments to people in need. We also hosted the seventh replenishment for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, raising a historically high level of funding from global donors. And, the United States has been a driving force behind deployment of the first-ever malaria vaccine. When combined with other prevention tools—such as mosquito nets and preventive medicines—these vaccines have the potential to save millions of children’s lives around the world.
 
To all those living in fear of malaria: the United States sees you. We stand with you. And together, we can—and will—end this disease.

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Funding unleashes $125 billion in private investment from Micron to build leading-edge memory semiconductor and create more than 20,000 direct jobs.

Today, President Biden will travel to Syracuse, New York, to announce that the Department of Commerce has reached a preliminary agreement with Micron to provide up to ~$6.14 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. This investment will support the construction of two fabs in Clay, New York, and one fab in Boise, Idaho, unleashing $50 billion in private investment by 2030 as the first step towards Micron’s investment of up to $125 billion across both states over the next two decades to build a leading-edge memory manufacturing ecosystem. Micron’s total investment will be the largest private investment in New York and Idaho’s history, and will create over 70,000 jobs, including 20,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs. During his visit, President Biden will discuss how his Investing in America agenda is building our economy from the middle out and bottom up, mobilizing an economic comeback in communities like Syracuse, and strengthening U.S. national security.

Semiconductors were invented in America and power everything from cell phones to electric vehicles, refrigerators, satellites, defense systems, and more. But today, the United States produces only about 10 percent of the world’s chips and none of the most advanced ones. Thanks to President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, that is changing. Companies have announced over $825 billion in investments in manufacturing and clean energy in the United States since the President took office, including in semiconductors. Semiconductor jobs and manufacturing are making a comeback. 

Back in 2022 and shortly after President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law, President Biden and Leader Schumer joined Micron in New York to recognize the company’s intention to invest in the Syracuse community. Today’s announcement is a major step in realizing the aspiration laid out on that day – that the United States will once again be a leader in global chip manufacturing. Leading-edge memory chips are critical for advanced technology, including artificial intelligence and advanced computing and communications.

Micron’s projects will create a robust leading-edge memory chip ecosystem and bring back leading-edge memory manufacturing to the United States for the first time in over 20 years:

• Clay, New York: Funding will support the construction of the first two fabs of a planned four fab “megafab” focused on leading-edge DRAM chip production. Each fab will have 600,000 square feet of cleanrooms, totaling 2.4 million square feet of cleanroom space across the four facilities—the largest amount of cleanroom space ever announced in the United States and the size of nearly 40 football fields.
  
• Boise, Idaho: Funding will support the development of a high-volume manufacturing (HVM) fab, with approximately 600,000 square feet of cleanroom space focused on the production of leading-edge DRAM chips. The fab would be co-located with the company’s existing, leading-edge R&D facility to improve efficiency across its R&D and manufacturing operations, reducing lags in technology transfer and cutting time-to-market for leading-edge memory products.

Creating Good-Paying and Union Jobs with Good Benefits Across America
Workforce Funding: President Biden promised to be the most pro-worker, pro-union President in American history, and his Administration has committed to ensuring that workers have the free and fair choice to join a union and equitable training pathways to good jobs. Today’s announcement includes at least $40 million in dedicated CHIPS funding for training and workforce development to ensure local communities have access to the jobs of the future. The focus of this funding will be further determined in the coming months based on the Department of Commerce’s labor and workforce priorities, in partnership with the Department of Labor.

Workforce Hubs: In addition, as part of the Administration’s effort to connect workers with good-paying jobs created by the President’s Investing in America agenda, today President Biden will announce four additional Investing in America Workforce Hubs – including one in Upstate New York, which will focus on semiconductor manufacturing – along with Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Michigan. These hubs complement five existing Workforce Hubs, including those in Phoenix, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio that have already catalyzed new semiconductor training programs.  These hubs will leverage and develop partnerships between companies, educational institutions, and labor unions to meet our nation’s workforce needs.

Project Labor Agreements: For these projects, Micron established two Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) at both the New York and Idaho sites for construction of new fabrication facilities. Both PLAs are the largest in each state’s history. These PLAs ensure that projects are completed efficiently and on time, while also supporting high quality jobs.

Registered Apprenticeships: To prepare for the thousands of jobs that will need to be filled, Micron is also leveraging Registered Apprenticeship programs to assist and propel underrepresented individuals to “earn-and-learn” and provide a pathway to well-paying careers. In New York, Micron has a partnership with the Manufacturers Association of Central New York. In Idaho, Micron established its first-ever Registered Apprenticeship Program in the state in partnership with the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance and College of Western Idaho. Micron is also joining DOL’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Table of leading labor, industry, and workforce organizations committed to equitably building and growing the next generation of the manufacturing workforce here in the United States. The AFL-CIO Working for America Institute will support DOL’s Sector Table by working with Micron, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and other employer and labor organizations to develop, scale, and adopt a universal pathway curriculum for advanced manufacturing, including semiconductor manufacturing, to provide workers an onramp to good manufacturing jobs and create a pipeline of job-ready workers for employers across the country. Finally, Micron is also engaging with the AFT, its New York affiliates, the State of New York, and teachers to develop a training framework based on foundational and technical skills found throughout the semiconductor industry to engage and train students.

Good Jobs Principles: Micron has established itself as a leader on workforce issues, including by living up to the Department of Commerce’s and Labor’s Good Jobs Principles, which includes offering living wage starting salaries, opportunities for promotion—including for individuals from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds—a comprehensive benefits package, and an organizational culture that encourages feedback from all members to help Micron retain talent and strengthen its workforce over time.

Child Care: Micron has committed to providing affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for its workers across its facilities, and is building new child care facilities in both Idaho and New York, as well as partnering with local child care providers to provide subsidized care.

Right to Organize: Micron has affirmed it respects workers’ rights to organize, to share feedback without fear of reprisal, and to collectively bargain. The Administration strongly supports these rights, and expects Micron to neither hold mandatory captive audience meetings nor hire anti-union consultants. Micron and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) plan to meet to discuss labor peace. The Administration also plans to convene industrial unions and CHIPS companies to discuss workforce issues.

Sustainability: Micron is committed to delivering on its existing sustainability framework for the design and operations of its new facility, which includes planning to use 100% renewable electricity at the facilities and mitigating greenhouse gases. These efforts support Micron’s global target to achieve net-zero emissions from operations and purchased energy by 2050.

Rebuilding America’s Communities
Today’s announcement is part of the President’s commitment to revitalize communities that for too long have been overlooked by federal investment. This investment is symbolic of how innovation, national security, and economic competitiveness can bring back communities that were once powerhouses. Syracuse was a manufacturing hub during World War II, when General Electric began building engines, vacuum tubes, and radar systems for the military. After powering the country to victory in World War II, families in Syracuse were left behind by decades of failed trickle-down policies. Factory closures led to jobs flowing overseas, increased rates of poverty, and a decline in income.

President Biden came to office with a different agenda – to leave no community behind and build the economy from the middle out and bottom up. Today’s announcement is coupled with ongoing, targeted investments in the Syracuse region. For example, the Department of Commerce designated upstate New York as a Tech Hub; the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing $180 million in the I-81 viaduct project to reconnect communities in Syracuse divided by transportation infrastructure; the Department of Energy and National Grid are investing a combined $140 million in upstate New York’s electric system; and the Environmental Protection Agency awarded $23 million in funding to clean up industrial waste. These investments set the stage for a new chapter in Syracuse’s economic history.

Now, the Syracuse region is making a comeback. After 22,000 jobs disappeared from the Syracuse region under the prior Administration, President Biden has added 25,000 jobs in Syracuse and over 1 million jobs statewide in New York. And workers are taking home more – real per capita personal income is up nearly 5%. Micron’s new investment is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs across suppliers and supporting industries – on top of the approximately 20,000 manufacturing and construction jobs it will directly employ – fostering a more resilient semiconductor supply chain in the U.S.

Building on Historic Progress Under the CHIPS and Science Act
Today’s announcement is the seventh preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT)

under the CHIPS and Science Act:

• In April 2024, the Administration announced $6.4 billion for Samsung to build leading-edge logic, R&D, and advanced packaging fabs in Taylor, TX, and to expand a current-generation and mature-node facility in Austin, TX.
  
• In April 2024, the Administration announced $6.6 billion for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to support the development of three greenfield leading-edge fabs in Phoenix, AZ.
  
• In March 2024, the Administration announced $8.5 billion for Intel to support investments across four states, (Chandler, AZ; Rio Rancho, NM; New Albany, OH; and Hillsboro, OR) to construct new leading-edge logic fabs, modernize advanced packaging facilities, and invest in R&D.
  
• In February 2024, the Administration announced $1.5 billion for GlobalFoundries to support the development and expansion of facilities in Malta, NY, and Burlington, VT.
  
• In January 2024, the Administration announced $162 million for Microchip Technology Inc. to increase its production of microcontroller units and other specialty semiconductors, and to support the modernization and expansion of fabrication facilities in Colorado Springs, CO, and Gresham, OR.
  
• In December 2023, the Administration announced $35 million for BAE Systems Electronic Systems to support the modernization of the company’s Microelectronics Center in Nashua, NH. This facility will produce chips that are essential to our national security, including for use in F-35 fighter jets.

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – including the CHIPS and Science Act – is spurring a manufacturing and clean energy boom. Since President Biden took office through the end of March 2024, companies have announced over $825 billion in private sector investments in manufacturing and clean energy, and over 50,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects are underway. This announcement is part of the President’s broader commitment to build an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down, and invest in all of America. 

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Since Day One, President Biden has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate and environmental justice agenda in history, including securing the largest-ever climate investment. The power sector, which is responsible for a quarter of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, now has more tools than ever – including unprecedented financial support, efficient permitting, and long-term regulatory certainty – to reduce pollution and upgrade the grid to support more factories, electric vehicles, and other growing sources of electricity demand. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing key actions to build on this momentum and deliver clean electricity to more homes and businesses, helping lower energy costs for American families and power the U.S. manufacturing renaissance driven by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, while providing cleaner air and water to communities long overburdened by pollution from fossil fuel power plants.
 
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a suite of standards to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as toxic air pollution, water pollution, and land contamination from fossil fuel power plants. EPA’s greenhouse gas emission standards will avoid 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047, equivalent to the annual emissions of 328 million gas cars, and together with the other standards will provide hundreds of billions of dollars in climate, environmental justice, and public health benefits, including fewer premature deaths, asthma cases, and lost work and school days. The standards announced today will ensure that power companies use modern, cost-effective technologies to reduce pollution and protect the health and wellbeing of communities, including communities historically overburdened by pollution.
 
The Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing up to $331 million through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for a new transmission line that will be built with union labor – the latest awards from the Administration’s $30 billion investment in strengthening America’s electric grid infrastructure. A capacity contract from the Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP) will support a new 285-mile transmission line from Idaho to Nevada, bringing more than 2,000 Megawatts of needed transmission capacity to the region. The Southwest Intertie Project-North is expected to provide hundreds of jobs to workers with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
 
Alongside this critical investment, DOE is releasing a final rule to make federal permitting of new transmission lines more efficient, ensuring meaningful engagement with Tribes, local communities, and other stakeholders. The rule establishes the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorization and Permits (CITAP) program, which aims to improve coordination across agencies, create efficiencies, and establish a standard two-year timeline for federal transmission authorizations and permits. The CITAP program gives transmission developers a new option for a more efficient review process, a major step to provide increased confidence for the sector to invest in new transmission lines.
 
DOE is also issuing a final rule to create an even faster track for completing environmental reviews of upgrades to existing transmission lines, which will increase reliability and lower energy costs. The rule creates a categorical exclusion, the simplest form of review under the National Environmental Policy Act, for projects that use existing transmission rights of way, such as reconductoring projects, as well as for solar and energy storage projects on already disturbed lands.
 
Additionally, today, the Administration is launching an effort to mobilize public and private sector leaders to expand the capacity of the existing U.S. transmission network, setting an ambition to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines over the next five years. The Administration has made funding available through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program to support upgrades to existing transmission lines, and DOE’s categorical exclusion issued today will speed up the process to upgrade existing lines. The power sector can achieve this ambition primarily by deploying modern grid technologies like high-performance conductors and dynamic line ratings that enable existing transmission lines to carry more power. As a complement to building new lines, deploying solutions like these offer fast and cost-effective ways to unlock hundreds of gigawatts of additional clean energy, increase system reliability and resilience, reduce grid congestion, and cut energy costs.
 
These efforts all work in tandem – historic investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda that are making America a magnet for clean energy investment; continued permitting progress to get projects up and running; and smart standards to provide rules of the road for power companies, enabling them to seize the unprecedented opportunities to deliver clean electricity across the country. These steps – which are part of a broader slate of Earth Week announcements – build on President Biden’s actions since Day One to tackle the climate crisis and advance environmental justice.
 
Upgrading the Electric Grid for Reliability and Resilience
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is delivering the largest investment in grid infrastructure in history—more than $30 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These investments will help deliver reliable, affordable electricity to families and businesses, prepare for worsening natural disasters that strain the grid, and unlock the economic and environmental benefits of clean energy. To help expand the transmission system at the pace necessary to confront the climate crisis, today’s actions and additional recent steps will help streamline permitting and overcome financial hurdles:
 

• Completing a New Transmission Line: Today the Department of the Interior (DOI) is celebrating the completion of the Ten West Link transmission line from Arizona to California. The line began transmitting electricity today and will increase reliability and unlock more than 3,200 megawatts of capacity from solar projects. DOI approved the construction of this project in 2022.
  
• Continuing to Invest in Grid Upgrades: Last week applications closed for up to $2.7 billion in DOE grant funding under the second round of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program for projects to upgrade and modernize the transmission and distribution system to increase reliability and resilience. This builds upon $3.46 billion in projects selected for grid upgrades in October 2023, which are funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
  
• Charting the Future of the Grid to Meet Emerging Challenges: Last week DOE released the 2024 Future of Resource Adequacy Report to lay out solutions to meet increasing electricity demand while cutting emissions and maintaining affordability. DOE also released the Innovative Grid Deployment Liftoff Report to chart pathways to deployment of modern, commercially available transmission and distribution technologies that could support 20 to 100 gigawatts of peak demand.

Revitalizing U.S. Manufacturing and Securing Clean Energy Supply Chains
Thanks to incentives from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the clean energy future will be made in America. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, private companies have invested almost $80 billion in clean energy manufacturing. Strengthening U.S. clean energy supply chains not only benefits American workers but also makes it easier to deploy clean energy even faster to cut emissions. Recent actions continue the progress to build and secure domestic supply chains and ensure that the U.S. will lead the world in clean energy manufacturing:

• Expanding U.S. Clean Energy Manufacturing and Creating Good-Paying Jobs: The Treasury Department and DOE recently announced $4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act tax credit allocations for over 100 manufacturing projects across 35 states under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit (48C). This includes projects to manufacture transformers and grid components, electric vehicle components and chargers, and transmission cables, produce clean steel, and process critical minerals and materials. These allocations include $1.5 billion for projects in historic energy communities that have experienced closure of coal mines and power plants.
  
• Securing the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Supply Chain: Last week, DOE announced several milestones on the path to establish a domestic fuel supply chain for nuclear energy and reduce our reliance on imports. DOE recently closed the requests for proposal to purchase high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) needed for advanced nuclear reactors, which is part of a $700 million program secured through the Inflation Reduction Act. Moreover, an enrichment plant (located in Piketon, Ohio) produced the first 100 kilograms of civilian HALEU ever in the United States with future plans to expand to 900 kilograms. U.S. capabilities will increase further thanks to an additional $2.7 billion made available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water Development, which, when paired with $2.2 billion from France and the United Kingdom meets and exceeds a commitment made last fall at COP28 to pool funds to develop a safe and secure global supply chain.

Deploying Clean Energy to Meet America’s Power Needs
The President’s Investing in America agenda has unleashed unprecedented investment in deployment of clean energy technologies, attracting hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment and creating over 270,000 new clean energy jobs. The Administration is taking additional steps to accelerate buildout of clean energy and remove roadblocks to deployment to ensure that new clean energy resources can come online fast to meet growing demand. Recent actions include:

• Accelerating Offshore Wind Deployment: Yesterday DOI announced plans for the next five years of offshore wind leasing, as well as a final rule to modernize offshore wind regulations. Over the next 20 years, the final rule is expected to result in cost savings of roughly $1.9 billion to the offshore renewable energy industry, savings that can be passed onto consumers or used to invest in additional job-creating clean energy projects.  Additionally, DOE released the Offshore Wind Liftoff Report, charting a path to success for the next wave of projects through continued innovation and cost reductions, along with DOE’s latest steps to support offshore wind manufacturing and transmission development.  Through these actions, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to support state leadership and use every tool available to responsibly grow an American offshore wind industry that will create thousands of good-paying jobs, including federal investments and approvals under President Biden’s leadership of 10 gigawatts of commercial-scale offshore wind projects, with the first two already providing power to the grid, as well as over 1 million acres newly leased to provide offshore wind opportunities for years ahead.
  
• Promoting Development of Renewable Energy on Public Lands: This month DOI issued a final rule to reduce fees for solar and wind projects on public lands by 80 percent and announced that DOI has now permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects on public lands, surpassing a major milestone ahead of 2025.
  
• Speeding Up Process to Connect New Power Plants to the Grid: Last week DOE released the Transmission Interconnection Roadmap, a first-of-its-kind report laying out solutions to accelerate the process to connect clean energy projects to the grid and reduce wait times for new solar, wind, and battery projects. The Roadmap complements $10 million that DOE recently made available for analytical tools and other approaches to accelerate the interconnection process. Additionally, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is moving forward to implement a series of major transmission reforms, including a final rule to streamline the interconnection process.
  
• Taking Advantage of Extensive Geothermal Energy Resources:  Last week DOI adopted categorical exclusions to expedite the review and approval of geothermal energy exploration on public lands. In addition, DOE recently released a new Pathways to Commercial Liftoff report on geothermal power, which showed how U.S. geothermal energy production could grow by a factor of 20 to 90 Gigawatts by 2050.
  
• Improving the State and Local Renewable Energy Siting Process: Last week DOE opened a funding opportunity for state-based collaboratives to build capacity to improve renewable energy planning and siting processes. This funding, supported by the Inflation Reduction Act, will accelerate the siting process to bring renewable energy online faster while improving outcomes for host communities, local governments, and disadvantaged communities.

Ensuring All Communities Benefit from Clean Energy
From Day One, President Biden has prioritized ensuring that all communities benefit from clean energy deployment, including the energy communities and workers that have powered our nation for generations and the low-income households that are burdened with high energy bills. The Administration has followed through on these commitments—not just talking about coal and power plant communities but investing in them. The President’s Investing in America agenda is creating good-paying and union jobs in energy communities, bringing solar energy to low-income households to reduce energy bills, supporting community engagement and improved outcomes for state and local permitting, and increasing grid reliability and resilience through distributed energy solutions. The President’s Justice40 Initiative sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal in climate, clean energy, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that have been marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Recent actions continue this progress:

• Reducing Energy Bills for Low-Income Households: This week the EPA announced $7 billion to deploy solar energy for low-income communities through the Solar for All program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. The 60 selections will provide funding to support 60 states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from solar, cutting annual electricity bills by more than $350 million for low-income households, creating an estimated 200,000 jobs, and increasing grid reliability.
  
• Deploying Clean Energy in Energy Communities: DOE recently announced up to $475 million for five projects in Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to accelerate clean energy deployment on current and former mine lands. The projects, supported by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will deploy geothermal, pumped-storage hydropower, solar, and battery storage and will spur new economic opportunities in communities that have helped power the nation for generations.
  
• Building Opportunities for Coal and Power Plant Communities to Continue Powering America: DOE recently released an information guide and technical study for communities and stakeholders who are considering replacing their coal plants with nuclear. Coal-to-nuclear transition can significantly reduce the cost of nuclear plant construction, while creating new high-paying jobs, increasing community income and revenue, and improving public health. DOE’s study found that, with adequate planning and training support, most workers at an existing coal plant should be able to transition to work at a replacement nuclear plant.
  
• Building a National Network to Finance Local Clean Energy Projects: This month the EPA announced $20 billion in grant awards under two competitions from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to create a national network to fund tens of thousands of climate and clean energy projects across America, especially in communities historically left behind and overburdened by pollution. One selectee, the Green Bank for Rural America, will help bring clean energy to rural America and energy communities, with a particular focus on Appalachia, helping ensure that the communities that have powered the nation for a century do not get left behind in the energy transition.
  
• Funding Microgrids for Tribal Communities:  DOE recently announced a $72.8 million conditional commitment to fund a solar-plus-storage microgrid on the Tribal lands of the Viejas Band of the Kumeyaay Indians. This will reduce the cost of energy, power local commercial business, create 250 construction jobs prioritizing Tribal, minority and veteran-owned contractors, and enhance the Tribal energy sovereignty.
  
• Advancing Environmental Justice: Through the Justice40 Initiative, 518 programs across 19 federal agencies are being reimagined and transformed to ensure the benefits reach the communities that need them most. Federal agencies are making this happen with the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, which is used to identify communities that benefit from the Justice40 Initiative.

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Introduction

The President’s Investing in America agenda delivers historic public investments to American communities through legislation like the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. These investments are crowding-in private investment into critical industries—to date, private companies have announced $825 billion in investments in growing industries like semiconductors, clean energy, and electric vehicles—and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Creation of high-quality jobs for American workers is central to the President’s economic growth agenda. Already, since President Biden took office, the economy has added 15 million jobs while the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in half of a century, remaining below 4 percent for a record 26 months. But as the President’s agenda brings clean energy and manufacturing back to America after decades of offshoring, the Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that this transition won’t be fully achieved if we don’t build the workforce we need. Expanded commitments to workforce development are necessary to successfully create durable, lasting industries through the Investing in America agenda.

As described in the Administration’s Roadmap to Support Good Jobs, the Biden-Harris Administration’s workforce strategy has four central priorities. First, it is designed to connect people to good jobs, including through evidence-backed training solutions like registered apprenticeships and other high-quality “earn and learn” pathways, and supportive services like child care that expand opportunity for American workers. Second, it is focused on ensuring that we have a skilled, diverse workforce for our transformational investments, with targeted workforce programs that align with growing sectors like clean energy and manufacturing that President Biden’s agenda has focused on. Third it ensures every community can meet its foundational labor needs, with policies designed to support short- and long-term labor supply in critical sectors like health care and transportation that often struggle to recruit and retain talented workers. Fourth, it prioritizes the creation of good-paying jobs with benefits, safety, stability, and worker voice to ensure that American families and businesses thrive.

This blog provides additional detail on the economic context for the President’s workforce strategy along with, for each of these priorities, recent actions taken, and recent progress in enacting them. 

The economics of the President’s workforce strategy

President Biden took office in the midst of a global pandemic with staggering economic consequences. In January 2021, the unemployment rate was 6.4 percent and the labor force participation rate was 61.3 percent—two percentage points below the rate only a year earlier. However, the workforce problems did not begin with the 2020 pandemic. The United States had seen a multi-decade-long decline in the labor force participation rate for workers between the ages of 25 to 54, falling behind many of its peer countries. In manufacturing communities, the offshoring of domestic manufacturing in the 1990s and early 2000s led to the loss, by 2011, of one million U.S. manufacturing jobs and 2.4 million jobs overall.

President Biden came into office determined to address these challenges. His American Rescue Plan enabled the strongest recovery in decades. And moving forward, external estimates predict that over the next decade, the Administration’s Investing in America agenda will create more than a million jobs in industries like construction and manufacturing. In addition to making bold investments in 21st century infrastructure and industries, President Biden has an evidence-backed workforce strategy designed to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to get a good, well-paid job in their community.

The Administration has made investments in evidence-backed training programs that ensure employers and counselors can play an active role in providing workers with the skills they actually need in industries with actual demand for labor. Research shows that demand-driven, sector-focused employment programs can not only increase employment in targeted sectors, but also have positive effects on earnings—especially for underserved workers entering these programs. These initiatives do not require students or workers to know on their own what skills the future job market requires. Instead, programs that produce the largest and most persistent earnings gains make strong connections to employers to determine in-demand jobs and skills. These programs also tend to provide larger investments per participant, upfront screening of participants on basic skills and motivation, and wraparound support services for participants.

Registered Apprenticeship programs have been shown to be particularly effective at increasing workers’ earning potential. A study of apprenticeships in 10 states finds that, over their lifetime, individuals who completed their training earned an average of $240,037 more than nonparticipants, with net social benefits of $49,000 over the course of the apprentice’s career. Apprenticeships also benefit employers; one study found that, on average, for every $1.00 invested, employers receive $1.44 in direct and indirect benefits in the years during and after training an apprentice.

The Biden-Harris Administration invests holistically in places across the United States, so that workers can get jobs in their communities. Job programs that are targeted towards regions that have been underinvested in can have particularly strong payoffs. One recent study found that the economic benefits of policies that add jobs in a given place (such as government-funded infrastructure projects) are at least 60 percent greater in “distressed” regions than in “booming” ones.

The President’s investments to empower and educate workers are already paying off. After Georgia received over $37 billion in private investments for clean energy technology, the city of Augusta has partnered with five major regional employers to develop their workforce and meet this increased demand through an Investing in America Workforce Hub. Terrence Tillman, a recent graduate of a newly expanded apprenticeship program, said “This is going to change my lifestyle. […] Knowing what the job entails and what its purpose is, I feel like I’m helping the country and the community.” Augusta is emblematic of how the Investing in America agenda can deliver good paying jobs and prepare the workforce for the future.

The President’s workforce strategy prioritizes job quality. An extensive economic literature lays out the benefits of improved job quality for workers, households, and businesses. By improving job quality, employers can more easily attract and retain workers—benefitting their bottom line. At the same time, improved job quality enables workers to bring home the pay and benefits that provide an opportunity to reach the middle class, which in turn supports economic growth.

Paying workers fair wages and providing benefits like paid leave can increase productivity, reduce turnover, and facilitate hiring and retention. Providing childcare lowers turnover while increasing the likelihood that parents can invest in training or additional education and work (especially full-time). Manufacturing firms that focus on job quality, like increasing pay and providing avenues for workers to have inputs into the firms’ practices, are better able to attract skilled workers, experience lower turnover, and generate higher productivity. Similarly, unions are already playing a central role in developing and training the workforce for the President’s investments in America.

Conclusion

President Biden has prioritized the creation of high-quality jobs for American workers in two ways—a strong and rapid labor market recovery and a comprehensive workforce strategy that prepares workers for the 21st century economy. As a result, while forecasters predicted that in 2023 the economy would fall into a recession, the US economy grew at a healthy 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, added over 15 million jobs, saw the unemployment rate fall below 4 percent for a record 26 months, and hit a record low gap between the highest and lowest state unemployment rates. Further, employment growth remains solid in specific industries where growth has been catalyzed by the Investing in America agenda—since January 2021, the economy has added 848,000 jobs in construction, 768,000 jobs in manufacturing, and 27,500 jobs in clean energy employment.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to making the necessary investments to connect Americans to good jobs, prepare them for our transformation investments, ensure every community can meet its foundational labor needs, and boost job quality. Case in point: President Biden’s FY25 Budget proposes a new $8 billion Career Training Fund that would provide approximately 750,000 workers with training and wrap-around supports, as well as funds to expand public-private partnerships to offer high-quality training in growing industries. Investments like these lay the foundation for a thriving U.S. economy and strong, shared, and stable economic growth.

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Today, President Biden will announce four new Workforce Hubs to ensure all Americans can access the good jobs created by the President’s Investing in America agenda, which includes the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. President Biden will make the announcement during his visit to Syracuse, New York, to highlight a CHIPS and Science Act preliminary agreement with Micron to dramatically expand semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. The Upstate New York region will be one of the four new Workforce Hubs, in addition to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the state of Michigan.

Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, private companies have announced over $825 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments, on top of $478 billion already announced by the Administration for clean energy and infrastructure projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. These investments are projected to create hundreds of thousands of good jobs—many of which do not require a college degree. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that all workers—including women, people of color, veterans, and those that have been historically left behind–have equitable access to those job opportunities and the training and skills needed to fill them.
 
Today’s announcement also builds on the inaugural five Investing in America Workforce Hubs in Columbus, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Augusta, and Phoenix that First Lady Jill Biden announced last May. Over the last year, the inaugural Hubs have generated dozens of significant commitments to create pipelines to good jobs, including an initiative to train 10,000 skilled construction workers in Columbus, Ohio, the first-ever registered apprenticeship program in semiconductor manufacturing at TSMC in Phoenix, and project labor agreements on $9 billion worth of infrastructure projects across Maryland. In each of the four new Hubs, the Administration will expand the successful models developed in the first round of Workforce Hubs and will continue to collaborate with state and local elected officials and community leaders to drive effective place-based workforce development efforts that are essential to the President’s vision of building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.
 
The next four Investing in America Workforce Hubs are:  

• Upstate New York: Upstate New York has emerged as a growing hub for semiconductor manufacturing, with record-breaking investments throughout the region. To date, companies have announced hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments to regain American leadership in chips manufacturing since President Biden signed his CHIPS and Science Act. And today, President Biden is announcing a $6.1 billion preliminary agreement of terms with Micron to invest in semiconductor manufacturing in New York and Idaho, which will create over 70,000 jobs. The Department of Commerce, with support from the Departments of Education and Labor, will stand up a Workforce Hub to help meet the training needs of this nascent industry and related investments in the region by fostering collaborations with partners such as labor unions, employers, and education and training providers.
• Michigan: The state of Michigan has long been the engine of the American auto industry — and the good-paying union jobs that built the American middle class. As the country accelerates into an electric vehicle (EV) future, President Biden is committed to ensuring that the workers, unions, and businesses that have historically powered the auto industry lead the next generation of clean vehicles. President Biden strongly believes that auto companies transitioning to new technology should retool, reboot, and rehire in the same factories and in the same communities with comparable wages. Building on significant efforts underway – including President Biden’s $15.5 billion investment in the retooling of existing auto plants and rehiring of existing workers for the EV transition –  the Department of Energy and Department of Labor will partner with the State of Michigan to launch an Electric Vehicle Workforce Hub.
• Milwaukee: Last December, the City of Milwaukee announced that—thanks to funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and in response to proposed rulemaking from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)— the City would reduce its timeline for replacing 100% of its lead pipes from 60 years to the 10 years outlined in the proposed rule. This announcement aligns with President Biden’s broader goal to remove all lead pipes across the nation within a decade. The EPA, with support from the Department of Transportation (DOT), will stand up a Workforce Hub to ensure the city has the skilled workers needed to accomplish this ambitious lead pipes replacement project and invest in clean water infrastructure in Milwaukee.
• Philadelphia: The City of Philadelphia has received billions of dollars in funding for public infrastructure—including clean water infrastructure and improved roadway safety. DOT and EPA will co-lead this Hub to ensure the city has strong workforce pipelines for all residents to access good jobs replacing lead pipes and investing in construction and infrastructure.

These new Workforce Hubs will align with the Roadmap to Support Good Jobs, the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive approach to ensure that every American—whether they go to college or not—has equitable access to high-quality training, education, and services that provide a path to a good career without leaving their community. A new analysis released today from the Council of Economic Advisors outlines the economics behind the Administration’s workforce strategy and underscores how it has led to record-breaking job growth.

Progress to Date
The Investing in America Workforce Hubs build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s existing whole-of-government effort to advance high-quality workforce development, including:
Building new pipelines to connect Americans to good jobs

• The Administration has invested more than $440 million since the President took office  to expand Registered Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, supporting the education and training needs of more than 1 million apprentices.
• President Biden signed a Registered Apprenticeship Executive Order to bolster apprenticeships in the federal workforce.
• The Department of Education launched the first-ever Career-Connected High School grants program, supporting 19 districts and states reimagining the high school experience to better connect to career pathways.
• The Department of Labor has provided $200 million in Strengthening Community College grants since 2021, supporting quality workforce programs around the country.
• The Department of Labor released the High Road Training Program Map to spotlight high-quality training programs and show where they are located relative to projects mobilized by the Investing in America agenda.
• In January, the White House announced new commitments to its Advanced Manufacturing Sprint, including 150 new advanced manufacturing-related Registered Apprenticeship programs and occupations have been created or are newly under development, and more than 4,700 new apprentices hired in advanced manufacturing occupations.

Making place-based workforce investments so every community can meet its foundational labor needs
In addition to the nine Investing in America Workforce Hubs that are training residents for growing industries like clean energy and manufacturing, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Announced the designation of 31 communities across the country as Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs).
• Announced the 22 finalists of the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program. Recompete will invest $200 million in economic and workforce development projects that connect workers to good jobs in geographically diverse and persistently distressed communities across the country. 
• Stood up the National Semiconductor Training Center, which will deploy $5 billion in semiconductor-related research, development, and workforce needs to deliver on the CHIPS and Science Act.
• Invested tens of billions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan in workforce development strategies. Through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which provided funding to every single local government across the country, more than 2,000 state and local governments have invested over $13 billion in workforce development and worker supports projects.
• Funded 32 coalitions across the country through the American Rescue Plan’s $500 million Good Jobs Challenge. As of December 2023, over 11,000 participants have entered training programs as a direct result of the program and thousands of workers have secured good, quality jobs in high-demand industries like construction, manufacturing, clean tech, forestry, and healthcare.

Boosting job quality to support recruitment and retention

• For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Department of Labor updated its Davis-Bacon regulations to modernize and strengthen prevailing wage rates for workers on federally funded construction projects, which will raise wages for 1 million construction workers over time.
• The National Labor Relations Board issued a decision announcing a new framework for union representation proceedings—where if an employer commits any unfair labor practices during a representation election, the Board will order the employer to recognize and bargain with the union, rather than re-running the election.
• The Department of Energy is requiring grant applicants to submit Community Benefits Plans to access Investing in America funding.
• Nearly all of the significant construction programs contained in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act require or strongly incentivize the use of Davis-Bacon prevailing wages.
• The Inflation Reduction Act offers incentives that increase the value of clean energy tax credits by five times if employers pay prevailing wages and employ registered apprentices.
• The Department of Commerce required major CHIPS and Science Act awardees provide high-quality child care to their employees.
• The American Rescue Plan provided $24 billion to help child care providers keep their doors open – including over $2 billion for higher pay, hiring or retention bonuses, or other expanded benefits for care workers. Recent analysis shows that this funding led to an increase in the labor force participation rate of mothers with young children of about 3 percentage points relative to similar groups.

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Today—on World Malaria Day—we recommit to ending this disease for everyone, everywhere.
 
Malaria is one of the world’s deadliest diseases. In 1951, the United States eliminated malaria in our country. And with strong bipartisan support in Congress, we’ve led the fight to eliminate this disease worldwide—saving nearly 12 million lives and preventing more than two billion infections since 2000.
 
But despite this progress, nearly half the global population remains vulnerable to malaria—living in constant fear that they will lose their lives because of a mosquito bite. And last year, after two decades of no domestically-acquired cases of malaria, ten cases were reported in the United States. While the individuals were successfully treated, and the spread was halted, it was a solemn reminder of the urgent need to continue preventing and treating the disease globally.
 
That is exactly what my Administration is doing. We’ve expanded the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, and are now partnering with 30 countries to bring life-saving tools and treatments to people in need. We also hosted the seventh replenishment for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, raising a historically high level of funding from global donors. And, the United States has been a driving force behind deployment of the first-ever malaria vaccine. When combined with other prevention tools—such as mosquito nets and preventive medicines—these vaccines have the potential to save millions of children’s lives around the world.
 
To all those living in fear of malaria: the United States sees you. We stand with you. And together, we can—and will—end this disease.

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Funding unleashes $125 billion in private investment from Micron to build leading-edge memory semiconductor and create more than 20,000 direct jobs.

Today, President Biden will travel to Syracuse, New York, to announce that the Department of Commerce has reached a preliminary agreement with Micron to provide up to ~$6.14 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. This investment will support the construction of two fabs in Clay, New York, and one fab in Boise, Idaho, unleashing $50 billion in private investment by 2030 as the first step towards Micron’s investment of up to $125 billion across both states over the next two decades to build a leading-edge memory manufacturing ecosystem. Micron’s total investment will be the largest private investment in New York and Idaho’s history, and will create over 70,000 jobs, including 20,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs. During his visit, President Biden will discuss how his Investing in America agenda is building our economy from the middle out and bottom up, mobilizing an economic comeback in communities like Syracuse, and strengthening U.S. national security.

Semiconductors were invented in America and power everything from cell phones to electric vehicles, refrigerators, satellites, defense systems, and more. But today, the United States produces only about 10 percent of the world’s chips and none of the most advanced ones. Thanks to President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, that is changing. Companies have announced over $825 billion in investments in manufacturing and clean energy in the United States since the President took office, including in semiconductors. Semiconductor jobs and manufacturing are making a comeback. 

Back in 2022 and shortly after President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law, President Biden and Leader Schumer joined Micron in New York to recognize the company’s intention to invest in the Syracuse community. Today’s announcement is a major step in realizing the aspiration laid out on that day – that the United States will once again be a leader in global chip manufacturing. Leading-edge memory chips are critical for advanced technology, including artificial intelligence and advanced computing and communications.

Micron’s projects will create a robust leading-edge memory chip ecosystem and bring back leading-edge memory manufacturing to the United States for the first time in over 20 years:

• Clay, New York: Funding will support the construction of the first two fabs of a planned four fab “megafab” focused on leading-edge DRAM chip production. Each fab will have 600,000 square feet of cleanrooms, totaling 2.4 million square feet of cleanroom space across the four facilities—the largest amount of cleanroom space ever announced in the United States and the size of nearly 40 football fields.
  
• Boise, Idaho: Funding will support the development of a high-volume manufacturing (HVM) fab, with approximately 600,000 square feet of cleanroom space focused on the production of leading-edge DRAM chips. The fab would be co-located with the company’s existing, leading-edge R&D facility to improve efficiency across its R&D and manufacturing operations, reducing lags in technology transfer and cutting time-to-market for leading-edge memory products.

Creating Good-Paying and Union Jobs with Good Benefits Across America
Workforce Funding: President Biden promised to be the most pro-worker, pro-union President in American history, and his Administration has committed to ensuring that workers have the free and fair choice to join a union and equitable training pathways to good jobs. Today’s announcement includes at least $40 million in dedicated CHIPS funding for training and workforce development to ensure local communities have access to the jobs of the future. The focus of this funding will be further determined in the coming months based on the Department of Commerce’s labor and workforce priorities, in partnership with the Department of Labor.

Workforce Hubs: In addition, as part of the Administration’s effort to connect workers with good-paying jobs created by the President’s Investing in America agenda, today President Biden will announce four additional Investing in America Workforce Hubs – including one in Upstate New York, which will focus on semiconductor manufacturing – along with Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Michigan. These hubs complement five existing Workforce Hubs, including those in Phoenix, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio that have already catalyzed new semiconductor training programs.  These hubs will leverage and develop partnerships between companies, educational institutions, and labor unions to meet our nation’s workforce needs.

Project Labor Agreements: For these projects, Micron established two Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) at both the New York and Idaho sites for construction of new fabrication facilities. Both PLAs are the largest in each state’s history. These PLAs ensure that projects are completed efficiently and on time, while also supporting high quality jobs.

Registered Apprenticeships: To prepare for the thousands of jobs that will need to be filled, Micron is also leveraging Registered Apprenticeship programs to assist and propel underrepresented individuals to “earn-and-learn” and provide a pathway to well-paying careers. In New York, Micron has a partnership with the Manufacturers Association of Central New York. In Idaho, Micron established its first-ever Registered Apprenticeship Program in the state in partnership with the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance and College of Western Idaho. Micron is also joining DOL’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Table of leading labor, industry, and workforce organizations committed to equitably building and growing the next generation of the manufacturing workforce here in the United States. The AFL-CIO Working for America Institute will support DOL’s Sector Table by working with Micron, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and other employer and labor organizations to develop, scale, and adopt a universal pathway curriculum for advanced manufacturing, including semiconductor manufacturing, to provide workers an onramp to good manufacturing jobs and create a pipeline of job-ready workers for employers across the country. Finally, Micron is also engaging with the AFT, its New York affiliates, the State of New York, and teachers to develop a training framework based on foundational and technical skills found throughout the semiconductor industry to engage and train students.

Good Jobs Principles: Micron has established itself as a leader on workforce issues, including by living up to the Department of Commerce’s and Labor’s Good Jobs Principles, which includes offering living wage starting salaries, opportunities for promotion—including for individuals from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds—a comprehensive benefits package, and an organizational culture that encourages feedback from all members to help Micron retain talent and strengthen its workforce over time.

Child Care: Micron has committed to providing affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for its workers across its facilities, and is building new child care facilities in both Idaho and New York, as well as partnering with local child care providers to provide subsidized care.

Right to Organize: Micron has affirmed it respects workers’ rights to organize, to share feedback without fear of reprisal, and to collectively bargain. The Administration strongly supports these rights, and expects Micron to neither hold mandatory captive audience meetings nor hire anti-union consultants. Micron and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) plan to meet to discuss labor peace. The Administration also plans to convene industrial unions and CHIPS companies to discuss workforce issues.

Sustainability: Micron is committed to delivering on its existing sustainability framework for the design and operations of its new facility, which includes planning to use 100% renewable electricity at the facilities and mitigating greenhouse gases. These efforts support Micron’s global target to achieve net-zero emissions from operations and purchased energy by 2050.

Rebuilding America’s Communities
Today’s announcement is part of the President’s commitment to revitalize communities that for too long have been overlooked by federal investment. This investment is symbolic of how innovation, national security, and economic competitiveness can bring back communities that were once powerhouses. Syracuse was a manufacturing hub during World War II, when General Electric began building engines, vacuum tubes, and radar systems for the military. After powering the country to victory in World War II, families in Syracuse were left behind by decades of failed trickle-down policies. Factory closures led to jobs flowing overseas, increased rates of poverty, and a decline in income.

President Biden came to office with a different agenda – to leave no community behind and build the economy from the middle out and bottom up. Today’s announcement is coupled with ongoing, targeted investments in the Syracuse region. For example, the Department of Commerce designated upstate New York as a Tech Hub; the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing $180 million in the I-81 viaduct project to reconnect communities in Syracuse divided by transportation infrastructure; the Department of Energy and National Grid are investing a combined $140 million in upstate New York’s electric system; and the Environmental Protection Agency awarded $23 million in funding to clean up industrial waste. These investments set the stage for a new chapter in Syracuse’s economic history.

Now, the Syracuse region is making a comeback. After 22,000 jobs disappeared from the Syracuse region under the prior Administration, President Biden has added 25,000 jobs in Syracuse and over 1 million jobs statewide in New York. And workers are taking home more – real per capita personal income is up nearly 5%. Micron’s new investment is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs across suppliers and supporting industries – on top of the approximately 20,000 manufacturing and construction jobs it will directly employ – fostering a more resilient semiconductor supply chain in the U.S.

Building on Historic Progress Under the CHIPS and Science Act
Today’s announcement is the seventh preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT)

under the CHIPS and Science Act:

• In April 2024, the Administration announced $6.4 billion for Samsung to build leading-edge logic, R&D, and advanced packaging fabs in Taylor, TX, and to expand a current-generation and mature-node facility in Austin, TX.
  
• In April 2024, the Administration announced $6.6 billion for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to support the development of three greenfield leading-edge fabs in Phoenix, AZ.
  
• In March 2024, the Administration announced $8.5 billion for Intel to support investments across four states, (Chandler, AZ; Rio Rancho, NM; New Albany, OH; and Hillsboro, OR) to construct new leading-edge logic fabs, modernize advanced packaging facilities, and invest in R&D.
  
• In February 2024, the Administration announced $1.5 billion for GlobalFoundries to support the development and expansion of facilities in Malta, NY, and Burlington, VT.
  
• In January 2024, the Administration announced $162 million for Microchip Technology Inc. to increase its production of microcontroller units and other specialty semiconductors, and to support the modernization and expansion of fabrication facilities in Colorado Springs, CO, and Gresham, OR.
  
• In December 2023, the Administration announced $35 million for BAE Systems Electronic Systems to support the modernization of the company’s Microelectronics Center in Nashua, NH. This facility will produce chips that are essential to our national security, including for use in F-35 fighter jets.

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – including the CHIPS and Science Act – is spurring a manufacturing and clean energy boom. Since President Biden took office through the end of March 2024, companies have announced over $825 billion in private sector investments in manufacturing and clean energy, and over 50,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects are underway. This announcement is part of the President’s broader commitment to build an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down, and invest in all of America. 

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Since Day One, President Biden has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate and environmental justice agenda in history, including securing the largest-ever climate investment. The power sector, which is responsible for a quarter of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, now has more tools than ever – including unprecedented financial support, efficient permitting, and long-term regulatory certainty – to reduce pollution and upgrade the grid to support more factories, electric vehicles, and other growing sources of electricity demand. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing key actions to build on this momentum and deliver clean electricity to more homes and businesses, helping lower energy costs for American families and power the U.S. manufacturing renaissance driven by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, while providing cleaner air and water to communities long overburdened by pollution from fossil fuel power plants.
 
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a suite of standards to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as toxic air pollution, water pollution, and land contamination from fossil fuel power plants. EPA’s greenhouse gas emission standards will avoid 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047, equivalent to the annual emissions of 328 million gas cars, and together with the other standards will provide hundreds of billions of dollars in climate, environmental justice, and public health benefits, including fewer premature deaths, asthma cases, and lost work and school days. The standards announced today will ensure that power companies use modern, cost-effective technologies to reduce pollution and protect the health and wellbeing of communities, including communities historically overburdened by pollution.
 
The Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing up to $331 million through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for a new transmission line that will be built with union labor – the latest awards from the Administration’s $30 billion investment in strengthening America’s electric grid infrastructure. A capacity contract from the Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP) will support a new 285-mile transmission line from Idaho to Nevada, bringing more than 2,000 Megawatts of needed transmission capacity to the region. The Southwest Intertie Project-North is expected to provide hundreds of jobs to workers with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
 
Alongside this critical investment, DOE is releasing a final rule to make federal permitting of new transmission lines more efficient, ensuring meaningful engagement with Tribes, local communities, and other stakeholders. The rule establishes the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorization and Permits (CITAP) program, which aims to improve coordination across agencies, create efficiencies, and establish a standard two-year timeline for federal transmission authorizations and permits. The CITAP program gives transmission developers a new option for a more efficient review process, a major step to provide increased confidence for the sector to invest in new transmission lines.
 
DOE is also issuing a final rule to create an even faster track for completing environmental reviews of upgrades to existing transmission lines, which will increase reliability and lower energy costs. The rule creates a categorical exclusion, the simplest form of review under the National Environmental Policy Act, for projects that use existing transmission rights of way, such as reconductoring projects, as well as for solar and energy storage projects on already disturbed lands.
 
Additionally, today, the Administration is launching an effort to mobilize public and private sector leaders to expand the capacity of the existing U.S. transmission network, setting an ambition to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines over the next five years. The Administration has made funding available through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program to support upgrades to existing transmission lines, and DOE’s categorical exclusion issued today will speed up the process to upgrade existing lines. The power sector can achieve this ambition primarily by deploying modern grid technologies like high-performance conductors and dynamic line ratings that enable existing transmission lines to carry more power. As a complement to building new lines, deploying solutions like these offer fast and cost-effective ways to unlock hundreds of gigawatts of additional clean energy, increase system reliability and resilience, reduce grid congestion, and cut energy costs.
 
These efforts all work in tandem – historic investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda that are making America a magnet for clean energy investment; continued permitting progress to get projects up and running; and smart standards to provide rules of the road for power companies, enabling them to seize the unprecedented opportunities to deliver clean electricity across the country. These steps – which are part of a broader slate of Earth Week announcements – build on President Biden’s actions since Day One to tackle the climate crisis and advance environmental justice.
 
Upgrading the Electric Grid for Reliability and Resilience
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is delivering the largest investment in grid infrastructure in history—more than $30 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These investments will help deliver reliable, affordable electricity to families and businesses, prepare for worsening natural disasters that strain the grid, and unlock the economic and environmental benefits of clean energy. To help expand the transmission system at the pace necessary to confront the climate crisis, today’s actions and additional recent steps will help streamline permitting and overcome financial hurdles:
 

• Completing a New Transmission Line: Today the Department of the Interior (DOI) is celebrating the completion of the Ten West Link transmission line from Arizona to California. The line began transmitting electricity today and will increase reliability and unlock more than 3,200 megawatts of capacity from solar projects. DOI approved the construction of this project in 2022.
  
• Continuing to Invest in Grid Upgrades: Last week applications closed for up to $2.7 billion in DOE grant funding under the second round of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program for projects to upgrade and modernize the transmission and distribution system to increase reliability and resilience. This builds upon $3.46 billion in projects selected for grid upgrades in October 2023, which are funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
  
• Charting the Future of the Grid to Meet Emerging Challenges: Last week DOE released the 2024 Future of Resource Adequacy Report to lay out solutions to meet increasing electricity demand while cutting emissions and maintaining affordability. DOE also released the Innovative Grid Deployment Liftoff Report to chart pathways to deployment of modern, commercially available transmission and distribution technologies that could support 20 to 100 gigawatts of peak demand.

Revitalizing U.S. Manufacturing and Securing Clean Energy Supply Chains
Thanks to incentives from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the clean energy future will be made in America. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, private companies have invested almost $80 billion in clean energy manufacturing. Strengthening U.S. clean energy supply chains not only benefits American workers but also makes it easier to deploy clean energy even faster to cut emissions. Recent actions continue the progress to build and secure domestic supply chains and ensure that the U.S. will lead the world in clean energy manufacturing:

• Expanding U.S. Clean Energy Manufacturing and Creating Good-Paying Jobs: The Treasury Department and DOE recently announced $4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act tax credit allocations for over 100 manufacturing projects across 35 states under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit (48C). This includes projects to manufacture transformers and grid components, electric vehicle components and chargers, and transmission cables, produce clean steel, and process critical minerals and materials. These allocations include $1.5 billion for projects in historic energy communities that have experienced closure of coal mines and power plants.
  
• Securing the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Supply Chain: Last week, DOE announced several milestones on the path to establish a domestic fuel supply chain for nuclear energy and reduce our reliance on imports. DOE recently closed the requests for proposal to purchase high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) needed for advanced nuclear reactors, which is part of a $700 million program secured through the Inflation Reduction Act. Moreover, an enrichment plant (located in Piketon, Ohio) produced the first 100 kilograms of civilian HALEU ever in the United States with future plans to expand to 900 kilograms. U.S. capabilities will increase further thanks to an additional $2.7 billion made available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water Development, which, when paired with $2.2 billion from France and the United Kingdom meets and exceeds a commitment made last fall at COP28 to pool funds to develop a safe and secure global supply chain.

Deploying Clean Energy to Meet America’s Power Needs
The President’s Investing in America agenda has unleashed unprecedented investment in deployment of clean energy technologies, attracting hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment and creating over 270,000 new clean energy jobs. The Administration is taking additional steps to accelerate buildout of clean energy and remove roadblocks to deployment to ensure that new clean energy resources can come online fast to meet growing demand. Recent actions include:

• Accelerating Offshore Wind Deployment: Yesterday DOI announced plans for the next five years of offshore wind leasing, as well as a final rule to modernize offshore wind regulations. Over the next 20 years, the final rule is expected to result in cost savings of roughly $1.9 billion to the offshore renewable energy industry, savings that can be passed onto consumers or used to invest in additional job-creating clean energy projects.  Additionally, DOE released the Offshore Wind Liftoff Report, charting a path to success for the next wave of projects through continued innovation and cost reductions, along with DOE’s latest steps to support offshore wind manufacturing and transmission development.  Through these actions, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to support state leadership and use every tool available to responsibly grow an American offshore wind industry that will create thousands of good-paying jobs, including federal investments and approvals under President Biden’s leadership of 10 gigawatts of commercial-scale offshore wind projects, with the first two already providing power to the grid, as well as over 1 million acres newly leased to provide offshore wind opportunities for years ahead.
  
• Promoting Development of Renewable Energy on Public Lands: This month DOI issued a final rule to reduce fees for solar and wind projects on public lands by 80 percent and announced that DOI has now permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects on public lands, surpassing a major milestone ahead of 2025.
  
• Speeding Up Process to Connect New Power Plants to the Grid: Last week DOE released the Transmission Interconnection Roadmap, a first-of-its-kind report laying out solutions to accelerate the process to connect clean energy projects to the grid and reduce wait times for new solar, wind, and battery projects. The Roadmap complements $10 million that DOE recently made available for analytical tools and other approaches to accelerate the interconnection process. Additionally, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is moving forward to implement a series of major transmission reforms, including a final rule to streamline the interconnection process.
  
• Taking Advantage of Extensive Geothermal Energy Resources:  Last week DOI adopted categorical exclusions to expedite the review and approval of geothermal energy exploration on public lands. In addition, DOE recently released a new Pathways to Commercial Liftoff report on geothermal power, which showed how U.S. geothermal energy production could grow by a factor of 20 to 90 Gigawatts by 2050.
  
• Improving the State and Local Renewable Energy Siting Process: Last week DOE opened a funding opportunity for state-based collaboratives to build capacity to improve renewable energy planning and siting processes. This funding, supported by the Inflation Reduction Act, will accelerate the siting process to bring renewable energy online faster while improving outcomes for host communities, local governments, and disadvantaged communities.

Ensuring All Communities Benefit from Clean Energy
From Day One, President Biden has prioritized ensuring that all communities benefit from clean energy deployment, including the energy communities and workers that have powered our nation for generations and the low-income households that are burdened with high energy bills. The Administration has followed through on these commitments—not just talking about coal and power plant communities but investing in them. The President’s Investing in America agenda is creating good-paying and union jobs in energy communities, bringing solar energy to low-income households to reduce energy bills, supporting community engagement and improved outcomes for state and local permitting, and increasing grid reliability and resilience through distributed energy solutions. The President’s Justice40 Initiative sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal in climate, clean energy, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that have been marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Recent actions continue this progress:

• Reducing Energy Bills for Low-Income Households: This week the EPA announced $7 billion to deploy solar energy for low-income communities through the Solar for All program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. The 60 selections will provide funding to support 60 states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from solar, cutting annual electricity bills by more than $350 million for low-income households, creating an estimated 200,000 jobs, and increasing grid reliability.
  
• Deploying Clean Energy in Energy Communities: DOE recently announced up to $475 million for five projects in Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to accelerate clean energy deployment on current and former mine lands. The projects, supported by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will deploy geothermal, pumped-storage hydropower, solar, and battery storage and will spur new economic opportunities in communities that have helped power the nation for generations.
  
• Building Opportunities for Coal and Power Plant Communities to Continue Powering America: DOE recently released an information guide and technical study for communities and stakeholders who are considering replacing their coal plants with nuclear. Coal-to-nuclear transition can significantly reduce the cost of nuclear plant construction, while creating new high-paying jobs, increasing community income and revenue, and improving public health. DOE’s study found that, with adequate planning and training support, most workers at an existing coal plant should be able to transition to work at a replacement nuclear plant.
  
• Building a National Network to Finance Local Clean Energy Projects: This month the EPA announced $20 billion in grant awards under two competitions from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to create a national network to fund tens of thousands of climate and clean energy projects across America, especially in communities historically left behind and overburdened by pollution. One selectee, the Green Bank for Rural America, will help bring clean energy to rural America and energy communities, with a particular focus on Appalachia, helping ensure that the communities that have powered the nation for a century do not get left behind in the energy transition.
  
• Funding Microgrids for Tribal Communities:  DOE recently announced a $72.8 million conditional commitment to fund a solar-plus-storage microgrid on the Tribal lands of the Viejas Band of the Kumeyaay Indians. This will reduce the cost of energy, power local commercial business, create 250 construction jobs prioritizing Tribal, minority and veteran-owned contractors, and enhance the Tribal energy sovereignty.
  
• Advancing Environmental Justice: Through the Justice40 Initiative, 518 programs across 19 federal agencies are being reimagined and transformed to ensure the benefits reach the communities that need them most. Federal agencies are making this happen with the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, which is used to identify communities that benefit from the Justice40 Initiative.

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The post FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Key Actions to Strengthen America’s Electric Grid, Boost Clean Energy Deployment and Manufacturing Jobs, and Cut Dangerous Pollution from the Power Sector appeared first on The White House.

Introduction

The President’s Investing in America agenda delivers historic public investments to American communities through legislation like the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. These investments are crowding-in private investment into critical industries—to date, private companies have announced $825 billion in investments in growing industries like semiconductors, clean energy, and electric vehicles—and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Creation of high-quality jobs for American workers is central to the President’s economic growth agenda. Already, since President Biden took office, the economy has added 15 million jobs while the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in half of a century, remaining below 4 percent for a record 26 months. But as the President’s agenda brings clean energy and manufacturing back to America after decades of offshoring, the Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that this transition won’t be fully achieved if we don’t build the workforce we need. Expanded commitments to workforce development are necessary to successfully create durable, lasting industries through the Investing in America agenda.

As described in the Administration’s Roadmap to Support Good Jobs, the Biden-Harris Administration’s workforce strategy has four central priorities. First, it is designed to connect people to good jobs, including through evidence-backed training solutions like registered apprenticeships and other high-quality “earn and learn” pathways, and supportive services like child care that expand opportunity for American workers. Second, it is focused on ensuring that we have a skilled, diverse workforce for our transformational investments, with targeted workforce programs that align with growing sectors like clean energy and manufacturing that President Biden’s agenda has focused on. Third it ensures every community can meet its foundational labor needs, with policies designed to support short- and long-term labor supply in critical sectors like health care and transportation that often struggle to recruit and retain talented workers. Fourth, it prioritizes the creation of good-paying jobs with benefits, safety, stability, and worker voice to ensure that American families and businesses thrive.

This blog provides additional detail on the economic context for the President’s workforce strategy along with, for each of these priorities, recent actions taken, and recent progress in enacting them. 

The economics of the President’s workforce strategy

President Biden took office in the midst of a global pandemic with staggering economic consequences. In January 2021, the unemployment rate was 6.4 percent and the labor force participation rate was 61.3 percent—two percentage points below the rate only a year earlier. However, the workforce problems did not begin with the 2020 pandemic. The United States had seen a multi-decade-long decline in the labor force participation rate for workers between the ages of 25 to 54, falling behind many of its peer countries. In manufacturing communities, the offshoring of domestic manufacturing in the 1990s and early 2000s led to the loss, by 2011, of one million U.S. manufacturing jobs and 2.4 million jobs overall.

President Biden came into office determined to address these challenges. His American Rescue Plan enabled the strongest recovery in decades. And moving forward, external estimates predict that over the next decade, the Administration’s Investing in America agenda will create more than a million jobs in industries like construction and manufacturing. In addition to making bold investments in 21st century infrastructure and industries, President Biden has an evidence-backed workforce strategy designed to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to get a good, well-paid job in their community.

The Administration has made investments in evidence-backed training programs that ensure employers and counselors can play an active role in providing workers with the skills they actually need in industries with actual demand for labor. Research shows that demand-driven, sector-focused employment programs can not only increase employment in targeted sectors, but also have positive effects on earnings—especially for underserved workers entering these programs. These initiatives do not require students or workers to know on their own what skills the future job market requires. Instead, programs that produce the largest and most persistent earnings gains make strong connections to employers to determine in-demand jobs and skills. These programs also tend to provide larger investments per participant, upfront screening of participants on basic skills and motivation, and wraparound support services for participants.

Registered Apprenticeship programs have been shown to be particularly effective at increasing workers’ earning potential. A study of apprenticeships in 10 states finds that, over their lifetime, individuals who completed their training earned an average of $240,037 more than nonparticipants, with net social benefits of $49,000 over the course of the apprentice’s career. Apprenticeships also benefit employers; one study found that, on average, for every $1.00 invested, employers receive $1.44 in direct and indirect benefits in the years during and after training an apprentice.

The Biden-Harris Administration invests holistically in places across the United States, so that workers can get jobs in their communities. Job programs that are targeted towards regions that have been underinvested in can have particularly strong payoffs. One recent study found that the economic benefits of policies that add jobs in a given place (such as government-funded infrastructure projects) are at least 60 percent greater in “distressed” regions than in “booming” ones.

The President’s investments to empower and educate workers are already paying off. After Georgia received over $37 billion in private investments for clean energy technology, the city of Augusta has partnered with five major regional employers to develop their workforce and meet this increased demand through an Investing in America Workforce Hub. Terrence Tillman, a recent graduate of a newly expanded apprenticeship program, said “This is going to change my lifestyle. […] Knowing what the job entails and what its purpose is, I feel like I’m helping the country and the community.” Augusta is emblematic of how the Investing in America agenda can deliver good paying jobs and prepare the workforce for the future.

The President’s workforce strategy prioritizes job quality. An extensive economic literature lays out the benefits of improved job quality for workers, households, and businesses. By improving job quality, employers can more easily attract and retain workers—benefitting their bottom line. At the same time, improved job quality enables workers to bring home the pay and benefits that provide an opportunity to reach the middle class, which in turn supports economic growth.

Paying workers fair wages and providing benefits like paid leave can increase productivity, reduce turnover, and facilitate hiring and retention. Providing childcare lowers turnover while increasing the likelihood that parents can invest in training or additional education and work (especially full-time). Manufacturing firms that focus on job quality, like increasing pay and providing avenues for workers to have inputs into the firms’ practices, are better able to attract skilled workers, experience lower turnover, and generate higher productivity. Similarly, unions are already playing a central role in developing and training the workforce for the President’s investments in America.

Conclusion

President Biden has prioritized the creation of high-quality jobs for American workers in two ways—a strong and rapid labor market recovery and a comprehensive workforce strategy that prepares workers for the 21st century economy. As a result, while forecasters predicted that in 2023 the economy would fall into a recession, the US economy grew at a healthy 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, added over 15 million jobs, saw the unemployment rate fall below 4 percent for a record 26 months, and hit a record low gap between the highest and lowest state unemployment rates. Further, employment growth remains solid in specific industries where growth has been catalyzed by the Investing in America agenda—since January 2021, the economy has added 848,000 jobs in construction, 768,000 jobs in manufacturing, and 27,500 jobs in clean energy employment.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to making the necessary investments to connect Americans to good jobs, prepare them for our transformation investments, ensure every community can meet its foundational labor needs, and boost job quality. Case in point: President Biden’s FY25 Budget proposes a new $8 billion Career Training Fund that would provide approximately 750,000 workers with training and wrap-around supports, as well as funds to expand public-private partnerships to offer high-quality training in growing industries. Investments like these lay the foundation for a thriving U.S. economy and strong, shared, and stable economic growth.

The post Following Up on the Four Priorities of President Biden’s Workforce Strategy appeared first on The White House.

Today, the White House convened state legislative leaders to discuss state-level actions to address junk fees, building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s unprecedented efforts to crack down on junk fees across the economy to lower costs for Americans. National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, and state legislators from across the country participated.

President Biden is committed to taking on hidden junk fees that companies sneak onto customer bills, and which the Council of Economic Advisers estimates amount to more than $90 billion every year. These fees occur across industries, from apartment rentals to concert tickets to health insurance. Since the first White House State Convening on Combatting Junk Fees last March, the Administration has taken landmark actions to increase transparency and eliminate these fees, including:

• The CFPB finalized a rule capping credit card late fees at $8, saving the 45 million Americans who are charged these fees an average of $220 per year and $10 billion overall. In January 2024, the agency proposed rules that would bring overdraft fees down to as low as $3 and prohibit non-sufficient funds fees on transactions declined right at the swipe, tap, or click.  These actions build upon more than $6.1 billion in annual savings in reduced and eliminated overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees as a result of the CFPB’s work.  Since the CFPB heightened its supervisory attention on overdraft and NSF fees in 2022, financial institutions have agreed to refund over $240 million to consumers
  
• The FTC proposed a rule that would prohibit companies from charging hidden and misleading fees and require that they display the full-price up front, and finalized a rule to ban hidden junk fees and bait-and-switch fees in car buying.
  
• Today, the Department of Transportation finalized rules that would require airlines to clearly disclose baggage fees, change fees, and cancellation fees up front, and require airlines to refund for flight cancellations or significant delays.
  
• The Federal Communication Commission finalized a rule requiring that cable and satellite TV providers provide consumers with the “all-in” price for video programming services. In the same month, the agency proposed a rule that would ban bulk billing arrangements by internet, cable, and satellite service providers. In addition, the FCC has proposed rules to ban early termination fees for cable and TV satellite provides, and as of this month, large internet providers are required to display labels at the point of sale for internet services that show the prices, fees, speeds, and other critical information under a new FCC rulemaking, so that consumers know what they are paying for up front.
  
• Last month, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury finalized rules to combat “junk health insurance” plans that deceive Americans into believing they have comprehensive coverage while leaving them on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical bills. Under the new rules, health insurance companies now have to provide consumers with a clear disclaimer explaining the limits of the services they cover and how much they cover.

Actions taken by the Administration will save Americans over $20 billion per year on junk fees, according to the Council of Economic Advisers. While the President is committed to using every tool at his disposal to combat unfair and deceptive pricing, he also believes that state-level actions are an essential part of this mission. This legislative year, at least 12 states introduced legislation to curb junk fees and during the convening state leaders shared steps they are taking to address junk fees in their home states. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has introduced sweeping price transparency legislation this session and called on the General Assembly to bring it to a vote last month. Legislators in Arizona, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have introduced far-reaching legislation to combat hidden and misleading fees, and many discussed progress in advancing legislation and the strong support from constituents to tackle these issues. These bills combat junk fees across multiple industries, protecting consumers in every corner of the economy. White House officials thanked the state leaders for their work and ongoing partnership on behalf of American families.

The White House State Legislative Convening on Combatting Junk Fees can be viewed here.

The following state elected officials delivered remarks as part of the convening:

• Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont
• New York Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris|
• Minnesota Representative Emma Greenman
• Illinois Representative Bob Morgan
• Arizona Representative Analise Ortiz
• Pennsylvania Representative Nick Pisciottano

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The post Readout of White House State Legislators Convening on Junk Fees appeared first on The White House.

Today, the White House convened state legislative leaders to discuss state-level actions to address junk fees, building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s unprecedented efforts to crack down on junk fees across the economy to lower costs for Americans. National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, and state legislators from across the country participated.

President Biden is committed to taking on hidden junk fees that companies sneak onto customer bills, and which the Council of Economic Advisers estimates amount to more than $90 billion every year. These fees occur across industries, from apartment rentals to concert tickets to health insurance. Since the first White House State Convening on Combatting Junk Fees last March, the Administration has taken landmark actions to increase transparency and eliminate these fees, including:

• The CFPB finalized a rule capping credit card late fees at $8, saving the 45 million Americans who are charged these fees an average of $220 per year and $10 billion overall. In January 2024, the agency proposed rules that would bring overdraft fees down to as low as $3 and prohibit non-sufficient funds fees on transactions declined right at the swipe, tap, or click.  These actions build upon more than $6.1 billion in annual savings in reduced and eliminated overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees as a result of the CFPB’s work.  Since the CFPB heightened its supervisory attention on overdraft and NSF fees in 2022, financial institutions have agreed to refund over $240 million to consumers
  
• The FTC proposed a rule that would prohibit companies from charging hidden and misleading fees and require that they display the full-price up front, and finalized a rule to ban hidden junk fees and bait-and-switch fees in car buying.
  
• Today, the Department of Transportation finalized rules that would require airlines to clearly disclose baggage fees, change fees, and cancellation fees up front, and require airlines to refund for flight cancellations or significant delays.
  
• The Federal Communication Commission finalized a rule requiring that cable and satellite TV providers provide consumers with the “all-in” price for video programming services. In the same month, the agency proposed a rule that would ban bulk billing arrangements by internet, cable, and satellite service providers. In addition, the FCC has proposed rules to ban early termination fees for cable and TV satellite provides, and as of this month, large internet providers are required to display labels at the point of sale for internet services that show the prices, fees, speeds, and other critical information under a new FCC rulemaking, so that consumers know what they are paying for up front.
  
• Last month, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury finalized rules to combat “junk health insurance” plans that deceive Americans into believing they have comprehensive coverage while leaving them on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical bills. Under the new rules, health insurance companies now have to provide consumers with a clear disclaimer explaining the limits of the services they cover and how much they cover.

Actions taken by the Administration will save Americans over $20 billion per year on junk fees, according to the Council of Economic Advisers. While the President is committed to using every tool at his disposal to combat unfair and deceptive pricing, he also believes that state-level actions are an essential part of this mission. This legislative year, at least 12 states introduced legislation to curb junk fees and during the convening state leaders shared steps they are taking to address junk fees in their home states. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has introduced sweeping price transparency legislation this session and called on the General Assembly to bring it to a vote last month. Legislators in Arizona, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have introduced far-reaching legislation to combat hidden and misleading fees, and many discussed progress in advancing legislation and the strong support from constituents to tackle these issues. These bills combat junk fees across multiple industries, protecting consumers in every corner of the economy. White House officials thanked the state leaders for their work and ongoing partnership on behalf of American families.

The White House State Legislative Convening on Combatting Junk Fees can be viewed here.

The following state elected officials delivered remarks as part of the convening:

• Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont
• New York Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris|
• Minnesota Representative Emma Greenman
• Illinois Representative Bob Morgan
• Arizona Representative Analise Ortiz
• Pennsylvania Representative Nick Pisciottano

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The post Readout of White House State Legislators Convening on Junk Fees appeared first on The White House.

On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the President signed into law:
 
H.R. 4389, the “Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023,” which reauthorizes and amends the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation.

Thank you to Representatives Salazar, Larsen, Peltola and Joyce, and Senators Cardin and Boozman, for their leadership.

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The post Bill Signed: H.R. 4389 appeared first on The White House.

On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the President signed into law:
 
H.R. 4389, the “Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023,” which reauthorizes and amends the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation.

Thank you to Representatives Salazar, Larsen, Peltola and Joyce, and Senators Cardin and Boozman, for their leadership.

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The post Bill Signed: H.R. 4389 appeared first on The White House.

Today, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution, proposed jointly by the United States and Japan, that would have reaffirmed the fundamental obligation of States Parties to the Outer Space Treaty not to place nuclear weapons in orbit around the Earth. The resolution also would have called on all Member States not to develop nuclear weapons specifically designed to be placed in orbit. Placement by a State Party of a nuclear weapon in orbit would not only violate the Outer Space Treaty, but would threaten the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services that any and all satellites provide to societies around the globe. As we have noted previously, the United States assesses that Russia is developing a new satellite carrying a nuclear device. We have heard President Putin say publicly that Russia has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space. If that were the case, Russia would not have vetoed this resolution.

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The post Statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Russia’s Veto of the UN Security Council Resolution on the Outer Space Treaty appeared first on The White House.