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WW+ Infrastructure Bulletin:February Edition
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A digest of infrastructure news and funding opportunities. The What Works Plus (WW+) funder collaborative is a partnership coordination hub across philanthropy, government, and nonprofits to advance equity and climate resilience through thoughtful implementation of historic federal infrastructure funding. WW+ is a project of Freedman Consulting, LLC, which provides strategic consulting services to foundations and nonprofit organizations.
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OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE WITH WW+
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A snapshot of learning events and high-impact federal infrastructure funding implementation-related opportunities in need of philanthropic support. For more information about these opportunities, please contact info@whatworksplus.com.
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You’re Invited! Revitalizing Civic Engagement through Collaborative Governance: Stories of Success From Around the United States
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As the Biden Administration issued its second historic Executive Order on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, there is renewed public momentum to deliver more equitable policies and increased engagement with underserved communities. This order calls for a sustained commitment to transforming how the government functions. And, as incoming federal dollars trickle down to communities, we are in a unique position to continue exploring and highlighting creative forms of equitable governance.
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Join New America, The Forge, and WW+ on Thursday, March 9th, 2023 from 12 pm - 1:30pm EST for a discussion with practitioners and advocates on best practices for co-governance, promising strategies for authentic engagement, opportunities with digital technologies, and lessons learned from on-the-ground experiences from southern and rural communities across the U.S. RSVP here.
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Funding Opportunity: Support the Media Democracy Fund’s Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative
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The Gap: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) administers a large share of federal broadband funding through states. To receive funds, states must submit plans to address digital equity. The agency mandates that states engage a broad array of stakeholders, including community-based organizations and anchor institutions in the development and implementation of these plans. As states finalize plans, it will be critical to ensure that states and implementing groups have capacity to bring high-speed internet to communities that need it most.
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The Opportunity: The Media Democracy Fund will be launching The Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative to leverage large-scale federal investments in broadband expansion and digital equity to close the digital divide and build lasting civic infrastructure in underserved communities. The Initiative will be raising an initial $4M from national philanthropy by June 2023 to support promising state and local coalitions advocating on behalf of underserved communities in federally administered state broadband grant programs. If you have any questions or are interested in learning more, WW+ is happy to connect you with Jenny Choi, the Program Director at Media Democracy Fund. Please reach out to Kennedy Patlan (patlan@tfreedmanconsulting.com).
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February Spotlight: News from Core Members & Friends
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Have a notable infrastructure-related investment, partnership, or event coming up? Let us know at info@whatworksplus.com and we’ll feature it next month.
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Don Howard (Irvine Foundation) and Matt Horton (Accelerator for America, Milken Institute) published an op-ed with recommendations for how California’s leaders can use federal funds to build climate resilience and the state economy. They argue state and local leaders should prioritize 1) enabling low-income communities to determine what a just transition looks like for them, 2) ensuring that businesses owned by women and people of color receive their fair share of procurement spending, and 3) partnering with employers and training hubs to expand career pathways to the many quality jobs needed to build climate-resilient infrastructure throughout the state. With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab, Seattle and Syracuse are preparing to overhaul their procurement practices over the next two years and hope to become models for other cities to learn from. In addition to modernizing their processes, these cities are committing to using procurement as a tool for building generational wealth and equity. Lumina Foundation is on track to help at least 60 percent of U.S. adults earn college degrees and other credentials by 2025. 2021 federal data shows nearly 54 percent of adults hold college degrees, certificates, industry certifications, or other credentials. Save the Date! United For Infrastructure, a program of Accelerator for America Action advocating for infrastructure investments, has announced that Infrastructure Week 2023 will be May 15th-19th. Submit your infrastructure-related event on the Infrastructure Week website to promote it on the Infrastructure Week Calendar.
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With partners, The Milken Institute (MI) is organizing the 10,000 Communities Initiative to offer high-impact, replicable technical assistance to help underserved communities access catalytic capital and capacity to build community-led projects blending federal, philanthropic and impact capital sources. The Initiative is anchored by the Community Infrastructure Center, a shared services matching platform and partnership between MI, HR&A and Open Grants that connects project sponsors (NGOs, cities, counties, small utilities, tribes) with access to TA providers and capital opportunities to advance their project, from project feasibility screening to predevelopment funding to grant application service assistance. The 10,000 Communities Initiative is also partnering on a series of regional events and training boot camps to accelerate equitable deployment. For more information: contact Sarah Ortner (sortner@milkeninstitute.org). Hua Nani Partners announced a new website for the State Readiness Funding Project, an initiative to promote free technical assistance and capacity support available to state and local governments for federal climate funding implementation. The website provides a centralized and accessible location for service offerings, including key federal funding resources, FAQs, and how to access this pro bono support. New America’s Hollie Russon Gilman and Lizbeth Lucero wrote on the promising opportunity that federal infrastructure and climate funding brings for states and local governments to implement participatory budgeting (PB), an inclusive democracy co-decision tool in which constituents work with their local government to decide the community’s spending priorities. Mayor Bibb of Cleveland, OH, announced the city’s intention to allocate $5 million in ARPA funds to pilot the city’s first PB process, and states including MI, RI, MA, IL, CA, ME, and TN are following suit by beginning to adopt PB processes as well.
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INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS UPDATES
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A snapshot of this month’s key infrastructure news.
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Major programs and investments to accelerate domestic clean energy manufacturing and ensure traditionally underserved communities benefit from clean energy technologies were announced this month by The U.S. Departments of Energy (DOE), the U.S Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Announcements included 1) the release of approximately $4 billion in a first round of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits through the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C), 2) guidance on the IRA’s Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program (48(e)) – the most significant tax incentive in U.S. history to promote clean energy investments in low-income communities, on Tribal Land, and within affordable housing, and 3) the opening of applications to DOE’s Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program, funded by the the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to support industrial projects by small- and medium-sized manufacturers in energy communities.
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced $430 million in funding through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program for community-centered clean energy projects, which is now accepting applications. As part of the announcement, DOE also issued a Request for Information seeking input on $9 billion in funding for the Home Energy Rebate Programs. These programs provide funding to states, tribes, and localities to support households and communities' contributions to reaching the goal of a net zero carbon emissions economy by 2050. The White House announced the Get the Lead Out Partnership during its Accelerating Lead Pipe Replacement Summit on January 27th, 2023. The partnership includes a coalition of state and local officials, water utilities, unions, NGOs, and private companies that have pledged to identify resources and actions that can be taken to accelerate the replacement of lead service lines, particularly in underserved communities. Also on January 27th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that $1.2 billion from BIL loan funds have reached 23 states for lead service line identification and replacement. Six months after the IRA Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law, early waves of investment in clean energy industries signal the IRA’s successful impact. Climate experts, however, caution that the IRA’s impact will fall short in providing what is needed to meet Biden’s goal of 100% clean electricity generation by 2035, and that more comprehensive climate policies are needed to impact change in the areas not addressed by the IRA.
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent nonpartisan congressional watchdog, released recommendations on how to improve the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The GAO found that while the program meets some performance goals, it lacks clearly-defined quantitative targets to measure this success. To improve the program’s implementation, GAO recommendations include revising non-English ACP outreach material, implementing anti-fraud controls and strategies, conducting fraud risk assessments, and creating a consumer outreach plan to educate consumers on the ACP.
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a forecasted application cycle for its Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program, which will fund public-private partnerships to develop, strengthen, and scale promising and evidence-based training models for job seekers in advanced manufacturing; information technology; and professional, scientific, and technical services occupations that support renewable energy, transportation, and broadband infrastructure sectors. Applications are expected to be open for nonprofits and public and state controlled institutions of higher education from February 22, 2023 until April 23, 2023.
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A fiery derailment of train cars carrying hazardous chemicals near East Palestine, Ohio forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes and raised environmental and health concerns. While passenger and freight rail received $66 billion through BIL funding, experts argue that, in order to prevent such events in the future, the railroad industry needs more dedicated leadership committed to safety. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced his department will be taking steps to impose stronger safety regulations, and is calling on Congress to "untie" the agency's hands in regards to legislation that has weakened their ability to enforce certain safety and accountability rules. The U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) announced $1.7 billion in funding to modernize transit through the Low or No Emission Vehicle Program and the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program. These programs will aid in the transition to low or no emission buses, constructing and renovating bus facilities, and supporting workforce development with 5 percent of grants for zero emissions projects attributed to workforce development and training. The White House announced recent efforts to make progress in meeting President Biden’s goal of building 500,000 electric vehicle (EV) chargers by 2030. These efforts include publishing minimum standards for federally funded EV infrastructure, finalizing the Build America, Buy America implementation plan for EV charging equipment, and announcing that states will soon be able to apply for the first round of $2.5 billion in competitive grants to build EV charging stations through the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program.
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Brookings Metro, Living Cities and the What Works Plus Funder Collaborative convened in December for the second session of a learning series to discuss equitable small business opportunity and good jobs tied to infrastructure and climate investments. Key takeaways from the discussion can be found here, and a full recording of the webinar can be viewed here. The White House released updated state-by-state fact sheets and maps of progress outlining detailed information about announced funding as of January 13, 2023 and projects in each state, along with anticipated funding by category over the next 5 years as of February 2023. Rewiring America has developed a free online calculator to help individuals understand what IRA tax credits they may be eligible for. The Electrification Coalition’s EV Funding Finder is a tool for individuals, businesses, schools, and governments to sort through available federal funds for transportation electrification. The Finder also provides users information on investment matching and technical assistance availability. Headwater Economics published a study outlining the barriers that smaller, rural communities face in accessing federal funding. The study found that more than 60% of federal resilience funding requires a local match – either nonfederal cash or in-kind contributions to support the project – resulting in the communities being unable to secure funding opportunities. To address inequities faced by rural communities who have fewer options for raising revenues, the authors suggest separating lower capacity communities into their own separate funding pool or waiving local matching requirements.
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WW+ Infrastructure Bulletin: February Edition
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