Cities will be key to allocating the $1.1 trillion in the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden Monday.
That’s what Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told local government leaders Thursday while speaking at the National League of Cities conference.
“We’re really going to be looking to you to deliver,” said Buttigieg.
DOT will be overseeing much of the implementation of the new bill. The new law requires the creation of about 40 new programs as well as the expansion of existing programs, Buttigieg said.
The law features $550 billion in new federal money for projects spanning from water to roads and transit, and $550 billion in reauthorized funding for surface transportation.
Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said he views his time in federal office as divided into two chapters: the first one pushing to get the infrastructure bill into law and now “this chapter, where the real work begins.”
Buttigieg promised that the department would make the federal grant application process as user friendly as possible and minimize competition among cities. He also encouraged local officials to join together to respond to regional grants and said the federal government would be looking to the locals to define regions.
Federal officials will also be willing to provide “moral support” for local officials who are facing opposition to projects, Buttigieg said.
“Let us know when we can give you a little top cover for doing good things, especially when those things are going to enhance safety or equity or climate resilience,” he said. “We want to lift up and amplify the visionary work you’re doing.”
In a separate appearance Tuesday with Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka, Buttigieg said the infrastructure package would improve supply chain problems afflicting the nation’s ports, rail, and inland waterways. The package includes $17 billion for ports and inland waterways.
“We’re delivering a historic level of funding in order to improve and support ports across the country but we need to find more money, not just federal grants,” he said. “We’re going to have to keep working with local, state and private partners in order to make sure we have all the resources that are needed.”