Before the book closes on President Joe Biden’s administration, the White House is trying to highlight his massive pandemic aid package for state and local governments.
Tom Perez, a senior advisor to the president, toured Cleveland on Thursday to call attention to spending in the American Rescue Plan Act. The $1.9 trillion bill, signed into law in 2021, directed $512 million to Cleveland and $240 million to Cuyahoga County.
The money served dual goals: helping municipal government budgets hurt by the pandemic and stirring the economy with local projects. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have slated their funds for work of all sorts, from building and repairing homes to supporting neighborhood nonprofits and services.
In an interview, Perez described the bill in historic terms. He compared the Biden investments to rural electrification under Franklin Roosevelt and the infrastructure projects of Dwight Eisenhower.
“But history takes a long time for people to understand that,” Perez said, “and what we’re doing in the here and now is making sure people know that, ‘My life got better in a very tangible way because I now have high-speed internet, I now have Obamacare, I now have a job that pays a much better wage so I can feed my family, I now have housing assistance.’”
2024 election looms over Ohio visit
Perez is arguing for Biden’s legacy as it remains a contested point in this fall’s closely fought presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris this week sought to etch out her own economic agenda in a speech in Pittsburgh – while former President Donald Trump blames the White House for high prices.
Asked if the administration’s spending drove inflation, Perez pointed to other causes of high prices: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pandemic-era supply chain bottlenecks at U.S. ports. The Federal Reserve’s recent rate cut was a sign that inflation is cooling off, he said.
“Now, no one is spiking the football at 2.5% inflation,” he added.
The city and the county are now working to spend their federal windfall. By the end of July this year, Cleveland had spent $208.5 million, or about 41% of its ARPA allocation, according to figures that City Hall shared with Signal Cleveland.
Perez spoke in the morning at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank – one recipient of ARPA money – alongside Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne. In the afternoon, he and Mayor Justin Bibb addressed a graduation ceremony for Cleveland Builds, a nonprofit that prepares students for jobs in the building and construction trades.
The visit was not a campaign stop, but the politics of the moment were hard to miss. Perez told the construction graduates that people are looking out for their retirements, “and two of their names are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
After Cleveland, the next location on Perez’s tour was Erie, in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
