RLC Weekly: Roads, Jobs, Schools

August 4, 2023
In The News

Dear Colleagues,

With the August District Work Period underway, the Regional Leadership Council (RLC) spent this week out in their communities discussing the positive ways the Investing in America agenda is impacting folks across the country. Here are some highlights from the week:

Improving Community Safety

Kilmer in Takoma - BCSA

RLC Leader Rep. Derek Kilmer (WA-06) spoke with local leaders about the importance of public safety and how investments made in the last Congress are making communities safer. Rep. Kilmer brought together mayors, school leaders, law enforcement, and advocates in Tacoma, WA, to discuss the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This law takes meaningful steps to protect families by keeping guns out of the wrong hands, giving law enforcement officers the resources they need to prosecute bad actors, and putting more mental health care professionals in schools. Learn more from Rep. Kilmer’s visit here.

In addition, RLC Leaders Rep. Robin L. Kelly (IL-02) and Rep. Troy A. Carter (LA-02) both spoke on community violence prevention and mental health this week respectively. Read more about Rep. Kelly’s remarks during National Night Out here. Watch Rep. Carter’s video on the HBCU Cares Mental Health Symposium here.

Empowering and Educating Workers

Soto with Workers

 

As the Investing in America agenda catalyzes a new wave of infrastructure projects across the country, RLC Leader Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) met with the ironworkers of Local 808 in Orlando to discuss how registered apprenticeship programs are turning investments made possible by House Democrats into high-paying jobs. The evidence of the transformational impact of the Investing in America can be seen and felt through every bridge built, road paved, and job created. It is critical that America’s workers and families are at the center of these investments. More from Rep. Soto can be found here.

Improving Public Transit, Saving Lives

Craig in Burnsville

This week, RLC Leader Rep. Angie Craig (MN-02) showed how the implementation of the Investing in America agenda is saving lives. Rep. Craig highlighted a $3 million infrastructure grant that will redesign an intersection in Burnsville, MN, which has been the site of 75 crashes in the last five years. This is another example of RLC Members working with local leaders to ensure federal projects reach every corner of the country. Read more on this story here. 

What’s Next?

  • President Joe Biden is expected to visit Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah next week to tout the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to lower costs, create jobs, and ensure the future is Made in America. Find a list of the trips White House officials are taking this coming week here.

  • As a reminder, Veterans who qualify and enroll in the PACT Act can receive benefits paid back to August 10, 2022. For inspiration on how to talk to eligible Veterans in your district, see examples from RLC Leaders Rep. Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) and Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) here and here.

  • The Department of Energy announced $34 million in new funding for two states and three tribal nations to improve grid resilience to climate change and lower energy costs. These grants are supported through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by its Grid Deployment Office. More information on these grants can be found here.

For more updates on how to help implement the Investing in America Agenda locally, please follow us on social media and share your story on how these investments are making a difference in your community. You can also visit our website for additional resources that will help track these historic investments.