WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) voted for the Moving Forward Act, legislation that invests more than $1.5 trillion in rebuilding America’s infrastructure, while creating millions of jobs and addressing disparities in urban, suburban and rural communities across Ohio and throughout the country.

“For years, we have failed to invest in America, resulting in crumbling roads, outdated schools, inadequate public transit, shortages in affordable housing, and other critical infrastructure needs,” said Rep. Fudge.  “As we work to recover from the coronavirus crisis, we have the opportunity to create good-paying, American jobs, while correcting these failures to benefit all Americans, particularly those in underserved communities.  The Moving Forward Act invests in our highways, bridges, transit systems, and ports, as well as our schools, broadband accessibility, affordable housing, health systems and the postal service.  This legislation will ensure Northeast Ohioans will have access to living wage jobs, while building the region’s infrastructure to benefit our children, families and communities.”

Among its far-reaching provisions, the Moving Forward Act:

• Invests $500 billion to rebuild the nation’s transportation infrastructure by fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, investing in public transit and the national rail network and providing funding for the upkeep of American harbors, ports, and channels;
• Invests $130 billion in school infrastructuretargeted at high-poverty schools with facilities that endanger the health and safety of students and educators;
• Upgrades child care facilities by leveraging a 5-year, $10 billion federal investment to generate additional state and private investments in making sure that child care settings are safe, appropriate, and able to comply with current and future public health directives;
• Invests over $100 billion into our nation's affordable housing infrastructureto create or preserve 1.8 million affordable homes;
• Protects access to safe drinking waterby investing over $25 billion in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and other programs that ensure all communities have clean drinking water;
• Delivers affordable high-speed broadband Internet accessto all parts of the country by investing $100 billion to promote competition for broadband internet infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities, prioritizing those with persistent poverty;
• Strengthens the nation’s health care infrastructureby investing $30 billion to upgrade hospitals to increase capacity and strengthen care, help community health centers respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies, improve clinical laboratory infrastructure, and increase capacity for community-based care;
• Modernizes the United States Postal Serviceby investing $25 billion to upgrade postal infrastructure and operations, including a zero emissions postal vehicle fleet, processing equipment and other goods;
• Establishes a $3 billion grant program for shovel-ready projects to restore Great Lakesand coastal habitats and marine ecosystems, prioritizing communities of color;
• Invests more than $70 billion to transform our electric gridto accommodate more renewable energy, expand renewable energy, strengthen existing infrastructure, help develop an electric vehicle charging network, and support energy efficiency, weatherization, and Smart Communities infrastructure;
• Promotes new renewable energy infrastructureby incentivizing the development of wind and solar on public lands and building a workforce for offshore wind; and
• Promotes investments in our communitiesby spurring private investment through the tax code, through a revitalized Build America Bonds program, expansions of Private Activity Bonds, and enhancements to the New Markets Tax Credit and the Rehabilitation Tax Credit.

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