IIJA in Action: California’s Infrastructure Upgrades

The State of California has fully embraced the opportunities arising from the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). State leaders have been strategizing which projects are most worthy of those newly furnished funds, and its primary focus is its infrastructure. Thousands of miles of roads, tracks, bridges, etc., thousands of power lines, poles, and stations, and countless runs of water supply lines have all gone decades without adequate inspections or refurbishments. At the same time, emerging technological and industrial upgrades also attract significant attention due to their promise of faster, better, and more comprehensive services. Not surprisingly, California is, again, positioning itself as a national leader by using this once-in-a-lifetime moment to enhance its available assets (legacy, emerging, and tried-and-true) to improve its economy and the lives of its residents.

The IIJA Delivers California’s Future

California’s allocation of IIJA funding—$180 billion over ten years—will go a long way toward alleviating the stressors currently threatening the State’s foundational functionality. In addition to improving roads, power systems, water systems, etc., spending to date also includes projects that address many of the State’s underlying equity concerns. As well, those dollars will fund over 400,000 new jobs as workers are hired and trained to fill job openings that don’t presently exist.

Governor Gavin Newsom and his team have distinguished eight overarching project categories that encompass the fundamental elements of a busy, thriving community:

Broadband Internet projects will ensure all Californians have access to internet connectivity, regardless of where they live. In Los Angeles County’s Antelope Valley, for example, the money is funding a cooperative-owned digital network to serve several communities.

Clean energy and power projects will revamp the energy grid to facilitate the achievement of the State’s climate goals. In Lancaster, almost $8 million will be used to convert unrecycled mixed waste paper into renewable hydrogen.

Environmental remediation and restoration projects will clean up the messes made by old-style, legacy infrastructure systems and processes and return local environments as close as possible to their original condition. Millions of dollars are aimed at remediating the effects of wildfires and floods across the state and, more locally, also restoring the Los Angeles River ecosystem.

Semiconductor projects will both ensure an abundant supply of technological resources to fuel anticipated growth as well as develop the workforce needed to maintain this growing industrial sector. In Santa Clara County, IIJA funds are paying apprentices to learn how to make the chips that run the world’s computers.

‘Streamlined project’ funding boosts the state-based resources already invested in existing projects, moving them forward faster and more efficiently. In one instance, Newsom is directing the money to complete the construction of 1,500 new homes in downtown L.A., which will inject upwards of $2 billion into the local economy, as well as generate over 10,000 union jobs.

Transportation project investments include simple enhancements, such as installing crosswalks in several counties, as well as larger, more complex opportunities, such as revamping the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.

Water-focused projects include restoring the Santa Monica Bay Estuary (and its kelp forests and abalone populations) and ensuring groundwater reliability for recycled water supplies.

Zero-emission vehicle projects are becoming the economic drivers for the future. IIJA resources are being used to fund projects developing and installing electric vehicle charging stations, electrified school buses, and zero-emission transport trucks.

Already, California’s government has allocated over $41 billion to move its activities away from fossil fuels, repair its bridges and road systems, and restore natural spaces to their original state.

The IIJA Moves California Toward True Equity

Not least, IIJA spending projects must also incorporate equity principles to ensure that all communities benefit fairly from its enrichment. The goal here is to alleviate environmental and social realities that were built decades ago into legacy politics and structures. In too many cases, ‘official’ policy has isolated ‘disenfranchised’ neighborhoods (People of Color, varied ethnicities, those who are economically challenged, etc.) in polluted, un- or underserved locations. The federal Justice40 initiative mandates that 40% of federal funds be directed at these communities that have been marginalized by the discrimination inherent in these discriminatory rules and practices.

The Justice40 Initiative flows from President Biden’s position that public investments should reduce and/or eliminate the consequences of failed social policy while also focusing on cleaning up its mess. Early into his first term, he issued two Executive Orders that explain and define his purpose:

Executive Order 14008, issued February 2, 2021, announced Biden’s strategy to Tackle the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. This sweeping revision of overarching national policies intends to build climate and social justice initiatives into virtually everything America does at home and around the world. In addition to including climate concerns in every international action and agreement, the Order also mandates that 40% of federal funds used in state or local infrastructure investments must be used to mitigate the errors of the past. One California project illustrates how this mandate can be met. Caltrans, California’s transportation agency, is receiving $1.86 billion for transport-related projects. Of that balance, $698.7 million (37.6%) is allocated to micro- or small-sized businesses, almost all of which would have no chance of contract participation without the federal government impetus.

Executive Order 14096, issued April 2023, aims at Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All. In this mandate, the President directs federal agencies to ‘disaggregate’ environmental risks, exposures, and health data from ethnic and other ‘equity’ principles (race, income, national origin, etc.). It also requires an assessment of data collection methodologies to remove patterns of ongoing or historical race- or ‘other’-based discrimination, ensuring that information related to all affected people is accurately contained in the revised documents, policies, and practices.

Several other Executive Orders buttress these two, underscoring this administration’s focus on improving the lives of all United States residents.

The combined efforts of California’s Governor Newsome and America’s President Biden are laying a new clean, inclusive, and fair foundation for the State of California, and the federal dollars pouring into state coffers are already building on that new resource.