Biden touts agency actions on fairness as major bills remain stalled
WASHINGTON — More than 90 federal agencies on Thursday outlined steps being taken to improve racial equity and justice, part of President Joe Biden’s equity agenda that has moved faster than legislation to reform police tactics, advance the right to vote or cancel student loans.
The “equity action plans” were released the same day Biden visits North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the nation’s largest historically black college and university. This is his third visit to an HBCU as president. Other members of his cabinet, including the vice president, made a combined dozen visits to HBCUs.
“Fairness is central to our success as a nation when the typical black family owns only 1/8 the wealth of the typical white family,” said Susan Rice, Biden’s domestic policy adviser. “When at least 35% of Americans in rural and tribal communities lack adequate high-speed Internet access, it limits growth and competitiveness far beyond rural America.”
The administration’s investment in HBCUs is one of more than 300 concrete actions officials say are being taken to get into the “guts of government” to improve service to underserved communities.
Others include:
- The Department of Justice makes it easier for people with limited English to report crimes.
- The Environmental Protection Agency is moving from responding to complaints of civil rights abuses to initiating reviews.
- The Department of Defense will work to mitigate bias in AI technology and partner with HBCUs to develop a more diverse AI workforce.
- The Treasury Department reviews the government’s debt collection practices.
- The Departments of Interior and Transportation want to increase bus routes and other transit options for national parks.
- The Department of Commerce expands access to patent and trademark systems for inventors and entrepreneurs from historically underserved communities.
The actions are a consequence of an executive order Biden signed on his first day in office directing every federal agency to find ways to address any disparities in policies and programs.
“Keeping America’s promise is not the work of one department,” Biden said in a video message Thursday. “It has to be the business of the entire federal government.”
Such efforts have been pushed back, including advice from the Department for Transport that funding a major infrastructure package “will promote equitable access to transport”.
Republican lawmakers have complained to Biden that “overly considering equity, union membership or climate” when implementing the infrastructure law passed last year would be counterproductive.
Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., the top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said highway funding should not be “a vehicle for the administration’s woke agenda.”
While the infrastructure package received bipartisan support, Republicans blocked Democrats’ sweeping voting rights bill. Bipartisan negotiations over police reform legislation broke down last year. Democrats lack enough votes in the Senate to push these bills over GOP opposition.
Some civil rights groups have also pushed the administration to write off student loan debt, which falls disproportionately on black Americans.
Biden recently extended the moratorium on federal student loan repayments through August 31. He supported, during the 2020 campaign, the cancellation of up to $10,000 of debt per borrower.
While some Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., have pressed Biden to use his executive power to write off up to $50,000 in debt, Biden said he believes that such action had to come from Congress.
“If Congress sent him a bill to cancel $10,000 in student debt,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this month, “he would be happy to sign it.”
The administration stressed that its equity program is not just aimed at communities of color, but is designed to help all marginalized communities, including people with disabilities, religious minorities, members of the LGBTQ community and anyone living in persistent poverty – whether in urban, rural or suburban areas.
Cabinet secretaries and other administration officials are traveling to dozens of communities this month to tout what Biden is doing for rural areas, including expanding high-speed internet access.
“We’re not going to send a penny unless we’re confident that this plan is going to deliver broadband to everyone,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Thursday.
She noted that her ministry had changed its mission statement – “Create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity” – to add the words “for all communities”.
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