President Joe Biden is set to visit Westby, Wisconsin, on Thursday to announce a significant investment aimed at improving rural infrastructure. The administration will unveil $7.3 billion in funding for 16 cooperatives across 23 states, designed to enhance electricity access and bring down the cost of internet connections in underserved rural areas.<\/p>\n
The funding, sourced from the Democrats\u2019 Inflation Reduction Act\u2014signed into law in August 2022\u2014represents the largest rural electrification initiative since the New Deal of the 1930s. This ambitious program is expected to create approximately 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs, according to the White House.<\/p>\n
This visit marks a return for Biden to a state he visited early in his presidency, where he made a commitment to improve infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas. In a June 2021 speech at the La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility, Biden highlighted the necessity of modern internet access, equating it to essential utilities like water and electricity. \u201cIt isn\u2019t a luxury; it\u2019s now a necessity,\u201d Biden said, underscoring his administration\u2019s commitment to expanding broadband access.<\/p>\n
The $7.3 billion investment is part of a broader $13 billion commitment to rural electrification included in the Inflation Reduction Act. This initiative aims to address the longstanding issue of limited access to reliable electricity and high-speed internet in rural America, which has been a persistent challenge for many communities.<\/p>\n
White House deputy chief of staff Natalie Quillian emphasized the significance of the president\u2019s return to Wisconsin, stating that Biden will showcase the administration\u2019s success in fulfilling its promises. \u201cWhen the president returns to Wisconsin, he will have delivered on so many of those promises,\u201d Quillian said.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin is a key battleground state for the upcoming November presidential election, with Biden having narrowly won the state in 2020 after Donald Trump\u2019s narrow victory in 2016. The state is considered crucial for Democrats\u2019 efforts to secure another term in the White House.<\/p>\n
The new funding initiative highlights Biden\u2019s ongoing commitment to enhancing infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas, reinforcing his administration\u2019s focus on addressing economic and social disparities across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Joe Biden is returning to Wisconsin to announce a $7.3 billion investment in rural electrification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":50457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[15858,2489,101,16485,16486,5057],"class_list":["post-50456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-inflation-reduction-act","tag-infrastructure","tag-joe-biden","tag-rural-electrification","tag-u-s","tag-wisconsin"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}