when using this mechanism and not to shut off any person. i feel all the questions were relevant and needed to be asked. so with that if there is no further business and i think you ranking member stauber for your comments the subcommittee stands adjourned. thank you. >> you mention another point in the fifth grade you know we had to learn and with all things going on san francisco but you had groups of 45 he worked on a project and you got a single grade. i always thought that was important because you have to take into account if you are going to get the grade you want it you had to take into account

what the other three or four people in that group are thinking so i thought that's a part of education later i thought a part of american education that helps us do it i still think we are pretty good at doing which is getting people who don't agree with us and we can work with them. we can get them together and believe me if you deal on the court where people think different things you'd better listen and you better understand that they are coming from us by a different place. we have the same problem in the same efforts to resolve those problems and we are all approaching these legal problems and most the time we are unanimous. approaching it with a lawyer that judges and human beings point of view and google talk this through and we both try to get as close to unanimity as we can and that requires listening

requires not listening in taking an what the other person is like him is thinking and why he is saying this and working with that.

on the cover flap that debby applegate's 2021 book madam photography of the icon of the jazz age has written quote simply put everybody -- probably at their was a dynamo or more than a waste of syphilis at were meant paid top dollar for the company of her girls. according to author debby

applegate and included frank and donna was about frank sinatra desi arnaz and duke ellington among many others. applegate is in amherst and neo-educated historian based in new haven connecticut read [inaudible conversations]

b ladies and gentlemen please welcome the mayor of miami francis flores. [applause] >> thank you so much for that wonderful voice of, very inspiring. good morning. i want to welcome everyone to the 90th winter meeting of the united states conference of mayors. [applause] and it's so great to be back together for a first major in person meetings at the start of a pandemic almost three years ago. we will have our official opening session at lunch today. let me say this now. mayor's business partners staff and everyone else welcome home. [applause] welcome to the place where you

are valued, the place were where the most powerful officials in the country as you will see over the next three days recognize the leadership of america's mayors and book him to speak and interact with others directly. the two leaders of the house of representatives will be with us showing our ability to connect with both parties. as we always say there are republicans and there are democrats and then there are mayors. let me repeat that, 11 cabinet members will be with us over the course t of this meeting. [applause] as tom would say it almost like we are trained to capitol hill on to the roosevelt roosevelt room at the white house. high-level white house officials coordinating historic legislation that we helped pass into law will be with us. numerous federal departments and

agencies staff members will be with us for engaging in discussions of some of the most important topics of the day and we will the meeting off on friday with none other than the president ofhe the united state, joe biden. [applause] mayors if this does not show the value of the consulate of mayors and the power we have two influence policy i don't know what else we can do. as important as their engagement will be with all of our invited guests the real part of this meeting are you america's leaders. [applause] it doesn't matter if you come from the biggest cities in america for midsize or smaller states, it doesn't matter what your political party is. does not matter if you are taking out this or this is your first meeting. at this organization each and everyone in your valued or do you want to hearnd your ideas ad

we want to hear your concerns. we want to learn from you and we want you to know that we will all learn from each other. this is your conference of mayors. [applause] i know tom cochran strongly believes in the power of mayors to not only deal with the issues of today. a defining moment that will alter the future of our great nation for the better. i share the same belief and that is why this meeting hasas been designed on some of the most pressing issue of our time. .. we have shown that when mayors stand united, we can accomplish great things and there are still things we have to accomplish on behalf of the cities that we love and the people we are so

proud to represent. mayors, again, welcome home. let's head to work. thank you. [applause] let's get to work. thank you. welcome home. [applause] [background noises] >> apparently that is first time jitters here at. [laughter] so now it is my pleasure to introduce someone who is certainly no stranger to mayors across america. as deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs, our first speaker today has helped open the door of the white house to mayors and it just as

importantly been a strong advocate on behalf of ourhr shared priorities. tom cochran is in bettersi position than i to judge his relationship with the relationship this organization has had with various white houses of intergovernmental affairs. but let me say this in my time in office i've never felt more welcome and a white house and would listen to on politics. from the american rescue plan to the bipartisan infrastructure bill, to so much more. our first speaker help make sure that the voices of mayors, republicans, democrats and independents alike were heard by the highest powers in the land. titles matter, offices matter, but more than anything, people matter. i do not believe that president biden could have made a better choice than this person to be our primary liaison. as we start the session focused on coming back together in person and strengthening the partnership should built in a virtual world of covid i'm so pleasedor

to welcome to our stage white house director of intergovernmental affairs and our friend thank you. ♪ha ♪ >> thank you so much merit for that warm welcome. and good morning america's mayors. it is so great to be kickinge off the 90th point mustn't poorly see all here in person. i want to give a special thanks to tom cochran and the entire team at the u.s. commerce of mayors. they've been tremendous partners and allies. and most recently organizing a bipartisan sign on letter with 151 mayors to advocate for voting rights and to ensure that we are doing what we can to protect this fundamental right is part of our democracy. at as the mayor mention i am the director of inter-

government at the white house which has the privilege of vibeing able to work with each and every one of you all to address some of the most pressing issues facing our communities and cities. have tackled incredibly difficult issues together. our frequent regular engagement with the engagement in the conference is a real testament to the value that you see in each and every one of you all as we implement the critical priorities addressing our country. facing our country. truly opportunities like this i had to connect with you all individually. i'm sure we will get invited to many ribbon cuttings as we continue to highlight theet important and historic return on investment that we have seen investing in our cities are. well as being able to connect are so many mayors that are seeing funding for the first time being able to invest in areas of our community that for too long have been plagued

by generational poverty. when president biden came into office he had a vision ofof being able to bring people together to get things done. two unite the country and prove we can rebuild america thand do big things together again. we are showing the american people that we are continuing to move forward we are preparing for the future. so again, it is wonderful to be with you all today. i just want to take a moment to member one year ago we were not t able to come together in this way and meet in person at the u.s. conference of mayors. in fact, when you're going for the president took office on the 6% of her schools were open. the unemployment rate was lisix-point to percent. 18million americans receiving unappointed benefits. less than 1% of americans were fully vaccinated. as you all saw and your

cities, american families are struggling to make ends meet. now tomorrow officially marks the one-year anniversary since president biden vice president harris took office. [applause] and ended several converging prices this administration hasn't moved quickly working with you all across the country to deliver results for working families and to change lives for the better. set up a historic vaccination program with the help of the u.s. conference challenge, now more than 2 million americans are fully vaccinated. that is about 75% of all of our adults. millions of teenagers and children are nows vaccinated thanks to the work we have done together and 80 million americans have received vista shots. the president was able to close the racial equity gap

inchoate vaccinations among adults. he had funding 96% of her schools open. all of the steps of continue to save lives. it's also got people back to work. president biden's first year was the greatest year of job creation in american history with more than 6.4 million jobs created. [applause] and recent weekly unemployment claims are down and print route 18 million americans receiving unemployment benefits to just now 2 million americans.s. economic growth as a strongest it's been into generations. and for the first time in about 20 years the u.s. economy has grown faster than china's. the american rescue plan led to so many experts are saying will be the lowest child poverty rate on record.d, on the unemployment rate is down to 3.9%, two years faster

than projected. that is progress we can all be proud of. [applause] and this year, thanks to mayors across the country we were able to pass critical legislation to continue to build on our jobs creation and to address our crumbling infrastructure. president biden of the american rescue plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law passed, the most impactful legislative agenda that we've seen in a first-year president, thanks to all of you to really making the case, what this means to americans, what this means to your cities and what this means our communities. with funding from the b bipartisan infrastructure level continue to create jobs, provide clean drinking water for all americans, up radar roads, airports and rail and take a critical first step towards a clean energy future. not present biden in our office know, the stronger our

relationship is with cities and mayors, the stronger our country as per the president knows they can be a moment when america wins the competition by roadbuilding the country safe, reliable resilient infrastructure. for all the progress we've been able to make together, there is still critical work that we need to do. we need to ensure and seize this moment to reimagine and rebuild a new american economyme that invests in the promise and potential of every american makes it easier for families to break into and remain in the middle class. we believe are most recent legislation the "build back better" act will do just that. it is a critical investment in our human infrastructure and it's about investing in american people, including america's children. so we look forward to continuing to work with you all to get this critical piece

of legislation passed that will lower taxes and extend the child tax credit for millions, that will lower the cost of care making universal preschool a reality, providing paid leave expanding access to home-based care services for our seniors and people with disability. to lower prescription drug crop costs for our seniors into lower healthcare costs like the affordable care act tax cuts wew know housing is a critical issue so many are facing. so yes the opportunity to lower housing costs and increase the supply of affordable housing and construct up to 1 million units. [applause] but as i mentioned from the outset we would not be where we are as a country without the critical leadership in the important role that you all play as america's mayors. we are grateful for the opportunity to continue to lift up your work and we hope that you will continue to

really shine a spotlight on the important efforts you are e making every day. whether it's in a local media, whether it's in helping to really tell the story of the families lives in investments are impacting paris what to be there at every turn to make sure we are shining a spotlight on america's cities in umea because it mayors. so thank you all for inviting us to join her today. i'm so grateful and semi- of our cabinet secretaries and administration officials that are able to join you throughout the course of the next couple of days. and most importantly to be able to hear from our president joe biden. thank you all so much and enjoy the conference. [applause] ♪ ♪ >> thank you julie for our great partnership and all you have done to help bring the administration to this meeting. it is now my pleasure to introduce the administrator of the environmental protection agency, michael regan serving a 16th administrator for the

agency. before invite him on stage you want to be sure to mention that we, at the local level have ait lot to brag about when it comes to protecting both the environment and the health of our citizens. between the resources we spent onso climate change, water, wastewater, solid waste, recycling and storing brownfield sites, enter productive use were spending more money than i think anyone else to be good stewards of the environment. i am so pleased the infrastructure included much-needed resources and for some off our most pressing issues. and i am excited to hear about administrative regan's plans working with us to protect the environment as well as implementing the infrastructure legislation. please welcome the epa administrator, pretty good basketball player two, michaelel regan. [applause] ♪

♪ [applause] >> well, good morning. and happy new year. yes i am really excited to bee here, it may or thank you for that introduction and thank you for your leadership. i am glad we are meeting so early into the new year because we have a lot of work to do together. in time it really is of the essence. we played a very strong foundation 2021 especially considering the degree of agency rebuilding we needed to do. i'm proud of what we have accomplished from tackling critical steps to confront climate change, to working toward rebuilding trust withun underserved communities, to strengthening our nation's water infrastructure. but the truth is, we have only begun to scratch the surface. we have a long way to go to truly building a better america. so we are going to keep the pedal to the meddle in 2022. i firmly believe that our success in confronting the

biggest environmental challenges of our time will be determined by our partnership. the state secretary of environmental quality north carolina, i saw up close out actions from the epa can either help or hurt local efforts. and let me be clear on that point. i recognize that you all know you're communities better than the federal government ever could. you are the eyes and ears on the ground. we need to hear from you, we need to leverage each other's expertise and we need to re-energize our working relationship to meet the challenges of today and those that lie ahead. that is why when i stepped into this role ten months ago, i made it a priority to get out of washington d.c. too actually sit down with mayors and their communities, to see firsthand the challenges you are managing on the ground. since being sworn and it had the pleasure of speaking directly with more than 50

mayors. and i am committed to getting to know even more of you in the year ahead. the local level is where the rubber meets the road. and nowhere is that more clear that when it comes to infrastructure. as mayors you are on the front line of the water infrastructure crisis in america. you are managing aging infrastructure, disastrous legacy of lead pipes, emergent cyber security threats and the pressures exerted by climate change. president biden's water infrastructure is not an issue that state and local leaders can or should manage on theirou own. that is why the president has made transforming america's crumbling water infrastructure a cornerstone of this administration's agenda. the epa is at the center of delivering on that t mission. epa, along with our mayors, our local partners have proven that investing in water w infrastructure is a win, win for public health and for

economic development. i am proud to say that in the first year of the biden-harris administration, epa water infrastructure and innovation act loan program, has invested more than $5 billion in communities all across the nation. taken together, these projects are expected to create over 36000 jobs. and today i am excited to $688 million in new loans to the city of baltimore, the city of milwaukee and union sanitary district in california. [applause] now, baltimore three to 96 million will help replace water mains and modernize water infrastructure across the city with the focus on

supporting low income communities and communities of color. in milwaukee $42 million will help improve storm water management and reduce flood risk and historically underserved communities. for the union district, $250 million will help reduce nutrient discharges to the san francisco bay and to improve climate resiliency and system reliability. these investments prove that protecting the environment and strengthening the economy, are not mutually exclusive. they actually go hand in hand. funding in these three communities will spur an estimated 4000 jobs in construction and operation. these loans represent the power of a dynamic federal and local partnership. they demonstrate that we can work together to address some of the most challenging, persistent public health and environmental challenges of our time. but our work is far from done. the successes we've seen in

2021 are of the benefits many more communities will see under the bipartisan infrastructure law. the infrastructure law provides the single largest federal investment in our water infrastructure history. $50billion to replace lead pipes, protect our treasured waters and build drinking water and wastewater systems that are resilient to the climate crisis. in 2022 epa will be providing $7.4 billion of the infrastructure law funding to the statetu revolving fund with a lot more to come over the next five years. nearly half of this funding is available as grants for fully forgivable loans. removing the barriers to investing in a water extraction underserved communities across rural america and suburban and urban centers. for more than 30 years they

have been the foundation of water infrastructure investments providing low-cost financing for local projects across the country. but we know that many vulnerable communities, especially our communities ofco color have not received their fair share of federal funding. under the bipartisan infrastructure law states have a unique opportunity to dcorrect this disparity during epa's journey to justice to her past november, i saw up close the frankly shameful results of this disparity. it has been in place for generations. as the mayor will remember, i set to meet with students and faculty at wilkins elementary school in jackson, mississippi. from the morning of the visit school wound up being canceled due to low water pressure. and just hours after i visited the water treatment facility the plant was forced to shut down resulting in a boil water advisory for much of the city.

but let me be clear, these issues are not unique to jackson. i've seen first in the flooding concerns mayor duggan is doing within detroit paid the long-standing water infrastructure needs mayor jones is facing in st. louis. the lead contamination work diligently to confront. i have heard directly from parents in big cities, smallit towns, rural communities all across this country whose children have been exposed to lead and drinking water. they carry around the weight- of that trauma every single day. folks, we could do better. it is our responsibility to do better. in the words of doctor martin luther king junior, who we commemorated earlier this week , the time is always right to do what is right. with bipartisan infrastructure law we have a once in a generation opportunity to do

what is right, to confront long-standing inequities and to build a better america, one that is healthier, one that is more inclusive, one that is protective of all people. especially our children. the implementation of the infrastructure law calls for a strong partnership and epa is ready to work alongside our local partners to ensure that all communities, all communities see and feel the full benefits of this investment. that is why in december i sent a letter to every governor of every state sharing detailed information about our goals for using the water infrastructure money provided to the water infrastructure bill. i also committed to issuing guidance in the coming monthsr that will go into greater detail to help ensure this historic investment reaches our most vulnerable

communities. let me be clear for this epa environmental justice is not an add-on is not an afterthought. it is essential to driving all that we do. and i am committed to working closely with each and every one of you visiting more of you in your communities and helping to solve these long-standing challenges together. this is a historic opportunity to change lives of the people who have been hurting for a long time. and to show people that their government federal, state, and local government actually work for them. this is what i came to do. and i know that is what you all came to do. so folks let's get to work thank you. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you administrator

reagan. next was extremely important role as white has a coordination cord in a different implementation of the american rescue plan. which is the u.s. conference of mayors work so hard. jean has served as head of the national economic council and assistant to the president for economic policy for both president bill clinton, andy president barack obama. he is the only person to have served in this capacity for two presidents. throughout his distinguished career at mr. sperling has shaped domestic policy on a broad set of critical issues. he has had a hand in creation of the children's health insurance program, the child tax credit, expansion of thene earned income tax credit, the new market tax credit and now the american rescue plan. and that is just a few of his accomplishments. it is safe to say a few has shaped a policy for children and families more than

mr. sperling. in the white house he is a strong advocate for cities and equitable economic recovery that reaches those who have been hit a the hardest by the pandemic i and its negative economic consequences. mayors, please welcome american rescue plan coordinator senior advisor to the president gina sperling. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> white underachieved and gond for the podium near you? [laughter] i really want to thank the leadership in the past leadership of the u.s. conference of mayors including your new president, thank you

for the introduction, congratulations. jeoff williams, and the man that i have worked with during three different white houses with three different presidents covering four different decades, tom cochran. [applause] they are applauding us, tom for being so, so, so, so, old. i am really honored to speak after our environmental leader of our administration michael regan. and the captain of our economic team secretary janet yellen. i will tell you there are few people i've ever worked in the white house who are so -- such

high performers consistently as julie rodriguez are head off intergovernmental affairs. [applause] her team, her entire team is so amazing and luke works with me and her on the american rescue h plan delivers over, and over again for both of us. i think of one thing everybody in this room understands is that the american rescue plan had a dual mission, to number one combat the immediate crisis we inherited in early 2021 and jumpstart our tweconomy. but number two, to ensure that we as a nation and all of you as mayors have the financial power and flexibility to invest in a durable, equitable, recovery. to take on not just the immediate but the lingering impacts of covid. and to provide all of us and you with an insurance policy

at the economic disruptions in the prominent known unknown spread of covid variance. this design was wise in terms of its first goal in jumpstarting deep distress. we are not only the only nation in the g7 to have returned to our previous pandemic levels of growth by the end of the second quarter, by june 30 of this year. no other g7 country has returned to their level of gdp by the end of the third quarter and september 30. so, make no mistake the u.s. recovery has been faster than any ever major economic peers in the world by a longshot. the 6.4 million jobs created on president biden's first year is not just the largest number that have ever been created in a calendar year, it's not really close.

second place was a two thirds of that and 1946, the year after world war ii ended. unemployment 3.9% we have reached that for years ahead t of when the congressional budget office predicted in february 2021. before the american rescue plan and all of you helped encourage. it has made a difference. and yes, make no mistake about it, we have to be focused on doing everything in the short, medium, long term to build supply, to help reduce the price increases thatce are clearly affecting families across our country. but it is also very crucial to note, how much the strength ofre this labor market due to the american rescue plan is reducing the long term pain

that has been felt often after a deep recession. what economists call scarring. after the great recession, when congress refused to provide eight major second recovery package, that lack of an economic cushion contributed to the scarring of both workers who are long-term unemployed, and young workers who were entering the labor market for the first time. you know what economy shows of a young worker goes into a very weak labor market, they start at lower pay, lower jobs, they do not necessarily recover quickly from that, thus the phrase scarring. on long-term unemployment i could give you the analysis and numbers that you could sum up this way. we lose a job for a few months it hurts. you scrape by but most of us have been through it and most

of us get by. when you lose a job for a year, yearor end a half, when you face long-term unemployment, people often lose their house. they often lose their spouse. they often lose their health, and economically up significant percentage never fully recover. this is what has happened after the deep recession of 1982. after the deep recession the great recession of 2009. it is a very important to recognize thatgn due to the power and strength and flexibility of the american rescue plan, those impacts, rather than increasing art lessening. [applause] i don't you just asserted i went to give you the numbers that establish that because look, i was there, i was there is a national economic advisor for president obama, i saw us

recover quicker. but then saw all of you not have the strength you need. i saw how you contracted, had to because there is not the support from the american ourescue plan paid them in job loss from state and local governments. that meant contracting from the economic recovery instead of contributing to it. now, long-term unemployment 2010 and 2011 it average six-point to million presentment six-point to million families were stuck in long-term unemployment. what is it today? 2million. one third the amounts. in fact four-point to million went president biden came in before the american rescue plan happened. since then long-term unemployment all the scarring and pain that goes with it has been cut in half. it has gone down more in the last nine -- ten months and it

has ever done is similar. in the history of our country. that is an important impact on human potential and suffering. but, let's look at youth unemployment. you know it is like for young person after the greatdo recession? they average unemployment of 17.3% from 2010 -- 2012, for three years the unemployment rate for young workers was 17.3%. after the american rescue plan passes started falling quickly. it is now less than half of what it was in the great recession it is eight-point to percent, one of the lowest levels but that means all of those young workers who may have been scarred are held back when we did not have the support needed because of the american rescue plan because of the support you have are now entering the workforce with strength not weakness.

[applause] : phone >> i'm looking, we all know that it was hard to get these emergency rental programs starting them we took heat and u took ethan there was a brand-new effort to have a national policy to prevent the unnecessary eviction that were already now, and a reallyve extraordinary $2.7 million renters are receiving assistance from thatte 2.7 million people, there's never been something i was even 100 of them in history of our country and evictions right now, not only did we not get this an army of evictions many of you feared it that we feared, that will feared, evictions are at 6s

in otherer words, the lower tody than they are in a normal recession area gear and foreclosures, foreclosures or not skyrocketing, they are month of the level that they would be in just a normal average year and credit cards delinquency, the lowest on record, each quarter this year and so yes, we have to go to take seriously the struggle the people feel with crisis but in terms of what we have done to prove to reserve a human potential end of the workers to put people in the families in a position of strength, i think that everybody here should feel proud of what the american rescue plan has done through both your advocacy and your implementation. now will go on a little more i guess what, the speaker to follow me is only the secretary of the treasury, and she is the

single woman in history of our country with the highest amount of government credentials that we have ever had, secretary of treasury, chair the federal reserve, chair of the canceled economic advisors and just the top economists, so i will have her carry a little more of the weight on that but i do want to talk to you about the urgency of the moment, to use american rescue plan funds to address are most vital economic challenges as we enter 2022. and i'm going to be straight because we have all talked a lot and we have listened and in session after session as we both put in place the final rules for the state and local plans and for the final rule when the treasury recovery officer jacob it this year, and deputy

secretary and i health come close and snow with the the counties leaders and governments and we have one word over and over and over again, possibility. flexibility, flexibility, flexibility, over and over weird that each city and state is been hurt in its own unique way and has its own significant needed any flexibility to fix the fiscal health and economic damages covid-19 has brought and we agreed but i want to say, in the spirit of spider-man, no way home, with greatwa flexibility, comes great responsibility. [applause] [applause] >> and i really mean this and i think that all of you if you are looking at how the public is looking at us and the vehemence were doing in the american

rescue plan, i think that they are looking at asking, are we using these resources that as i said, had not just the power ani flexibility to deal with the immediate crisis, but to deal with the lingering asking, army using to address those top economic challenges. i think at the top of that list, and are going to say what is number one but i am thinking among the top economic challenges, we as a country will deal within 2022, is the issue of whether we are doing everything to retain workers and essential jobs and do expend the supply workers needed to meet our economic education, healthcare, and supply chain needs. however important the unique challenges that each of you face, we have a collective obligation to show that you're

using the resources of the american rescue plan that are still available in 2022, to address the most pressing economic challenges in 2022. some really focusing on one thing here on workforce, but i just want to leave you with the following which is, party to bus asking, are we doing everything we can with the american rescue plan to retain the workers we need and are we going the extra mile to give hero retention bonuses andg help workers with childcare costs are necessary paid leave for omicron absences and illnesses and are we deploying our american rescue plan dollars if more americans in the job training, the apprenticeships and the credentials of community colleges, the training with guaranteed jobs on the other side and are we doing everything to make this moment.

are you as an plan dollars to hire the teachers and army of tutors to address learning loss, bus drivers. are we hiring and creating the expansion of community healthcare workers, people that we may have hired it to do contact tracing and are now helping on persuasion vaccinations and what can go on and at public health careers and strengthen and diversify our community health workforce and are we expanding and using a resources to expand the number of workers enforced another is affecting our supply chain are we showing the reusing american rescue plans to bring people not just back to work, the back to better jobs with better working conditions and with better job opportunities and better career paths in the answer is, that many of you are.

and we appreciated and we have been discussing us under this with the united states president and i am sure that he will address some of these things when he speaks to all of you. but even if you have been doing something, you ask as you enter 2022, are you doing enough and we have a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, historic, coming in are we doing everything to ensure that we are doing it training, and pernicious, the on-the-job to make sure that we can fill those jobs and when we do, that is equitable the diverse workforce. are we investing in retaining our care workers, bringing on mark care workers by raising the status and dignity and pay and career opportunities. and many of you, understand the real challenges, are you hiding too much behind the funding clip argument and i understand that

when whatsapp long-term funding both the market rescue plan possibility, with revenues increasing, is a more practical to start making some of the crucial hires we need. now i am not here my roles american rescue plan coordinator to just preach, i am here to work with everybody here and to mobilize and get stuff done pretty many of you see we have that and we immobilized summits on eviction diversions and we are about doing action. we want to work together to ensure the best practices and practical assistance in we want to do mobilizations on different subsets of his workforce issue and from the supply to care workers to maybe a call for jobs over the summer for the youth in whatever it is you want to work together and we want to mobilize. i only have one e-mail i don't have three or four, is just one,

eugene . d . sperling and eugene . d . sperling and who eop .gov and we want to talk to you, write and send carrier pigeon notes. [laughter] and of course there wide areas of worthy the market rescue plan investments that we celebrate in compliment you on and of course we do not mean that we want you to less on affordable housing on broadband or small businesses assistance in all of these are crucial and transformative in the coming back from the americans, from the unprecedented challenges we have faced with covid-19. but if you will forgive me, for now, changing my paraphrasing from spider-man to john f.

kennedy. please ask yourself, when it comes to spending our supply of criticalng workers, what more cn you do for your country with american rescue plan funds and thank you very much. [applause] [applause] ♪ ♪♪ >> think eugene for your work to help implement this historic american rescue plan and your strong belief in the power of mayors and were now extremely fortunate today to have our keynote speaker for discussion, the t honorable janet yellen, te seven secretary of the u.s. department of treasury secretary yellen has long and distinguished career in economics of public service and she is the only person who has served at the head of the white house national economic council under president bill clinton in the 15th chair of the federal

reserve, nominated by president barack obama, and of course president biden secretary of treasury. as secretary of the treasury she has overseen a critical parts of president biden's american rescue plan including the 65.1 billion physical recovery fund for all cities and expansion of the children's tax credit resulting in a 35 - 40 percent drop in child poverty inan america over the course of 2021. she's also been instrumental in safeguarding the credit of the united states treasury, so central to our nations global leadership. mayors, please welcome a friend of america cities, and exemplar of a life devoted to public service, secretary of the treasury, janet yellen. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪♪ [applause]

>> thank you. thank you so much. thank you. thank you very much. thank you mayor and thank you all for welcoming me. more than that, thank you all for your carless work over the past two years. and there has been few harder or more crucial jobs during this pandemic it in being a mayor and local governments have in the first ones to fit against this pandemic and as much as anything else, it is been the work of the city that skipped her - on track and that is what i want to talk about today. almost exactly a year ago, 300 city for days since this morning

to be precise, i was putting on a very large coat and getting ready to drive to the rent an additional amount watch president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris to take office. it was a historic day for the country. and played out against the backdrop of real jeopardy. roughly 3900 americans would die of covid-19 at the decade and the next and americans were applying for other claimant insurance and during the worst week of the great recession. millions of people said they didn't have enough food to eat. several economists making dire predictions the pandemic but punch our economy further into recession with many more jobs lost. and of course, they never

materialized. in fact, if somehow you transported to group of economists including me, from that moment until today, and just showed us the data, we would be quite thrilled. unemployment is now at 3.9 percent, the sharpest when you drop in the right ever. gdp now is exceeding pre- pandemic levels and in 2021, witnessed one of the biggest reductions in child poverty and child hunger in american history. yes, omicron has presented a challenge and will likely impacted in the coming months money am confident that it will not derail one of the strongest periods of economic growth in the century. and none of this was guaranteed. i think it's important to

recognize that. there is a very real counterfactual where omicron didn't derail our recovery, it's area where new variant curb our economy backwards on inauguration day, 2021. it is important question to ask, why didn't that happen. while there are innumerable reasons, one obvious of the country is now vaccinated. but it's also quite clear you, that the mayors has something to do with it. the reason that january 2022, is not january of 2021, is in large part due to what is happening and local governments. i think the best place to begin this is two months ago in march. there was a pivotal moment, a time with the future could've gone in different directions.

in fact it was last time that i spoke to many of you in a room of city leaders, the american rescue plan for the arp, have passed the senate and awaited a final vote in the house. many of you conferenced into very congressional offices to pursue bill to that point.wa animate the case for one of its largest programs the state and local recovery could, three or $50 billion to help communities make it to the other side of the pandemic and at the time i think that we all believed it state and local funding was important and it was essential in retrospect though, that program in particular in the arp in general, absolutely essential, you can draw a straight line between the arp passage of an

economic performance during delta and omicron. and as this group knows better than anyone, the first year of the pandemic it, government budgets forcing states and communities to lay off furlough collective one point $3m workers. these are the employees that we rightly call eccentric, the teachers, first responders, public health officials, and how would your cities be different if those essential workers state of the job. it is a question that probablyal has a very unpleasant answer. and i think that is a challenge the schools are facing now. and that i imagined how to navigate that same challenge but with hundreds of thousands of fewer teachers and other school staff.

and i expect that would've been the case that the arp. and of course you are the experts, but it seems hard to overstate how quickly andut completely the arp changed the everyday institutions to keep our society working. hawaii for instance plan furlough 10000 employees but on the date the president biden started the rescue plan, he canceled the layoffs. denver, was able to hundred and 65 city staff positions left vacant because of the pandemic related it cuts. when wichita kansas is hiring for 16161 jobs and everything fm animal control officers to security screeners to streets and parking in park maintenance workers in many places have used

the funding not only to hire for the public sector jobs if to rebuild the private sector and the residual to during the pandemic. in columbus ohio is providing thousand dollars signing bonuses for new teachers and childcare centers. there also granting scholarships to low-income families so their kids can attend this is what some of the 350 million-dollar that we get, and omicron started spinning around our cities he did not find, found them much more ready to respond that is a mice, the interruption of the vaccine for the american economy, and protecting our recovery from the possibility of the new variant. and is a protection it was not complete, but is very strong and

it prevented the communities from suffering the most severe economic effects of omicron and delta. and of course the relief package did not predict exactly whose variance would emerge but anticipates that our recovery would run up against some unforeseen barriers. the pandemic produced a highly unusual economic crisis. one tied not to the movements of markets but to the evolution of microbes read in the crisis could have been flow and would hit different places and different ways and at different times. in the state and local was designed with that in mind as well, rather than one burst of money, he can only be spent in certain ways, the culture sustained funding. in our treasury team has worked

hard so that you can use the money as flexibly as possible prettyty and indeed in responseo omicron, cities and states across the country have used arp money to put on a clinic in a creative government and many and provided the extra support to the vaccine campaigns and others have built up the public health infrastructure. in recent weeks, minnesota has authorized over $80 million in arp funds for everything from the distributions of covid-19 test to emergency surge staffing in hospitals. her cities like st. louis, which sought the two trains were colliding, the spread of new variance, and the expiration of the relations eviction moratoriums read it was risk that people were going to loosen the over the heads and, getting

our efforts to stop the spread of but also complicate people's lives years, and st. louis have been dispersing dollars from the arp's emergency rental assistance programs read but also chose to use $50 million of the state and local dollars to keep people in their homes and children those experiencing homelessness. today, he eviction filings are 60 percent below their pre- pandemic levels. this large part because of work like that. and avoided the national eviction crisis because leaders like you have helped build the infrastructure to deliver over $3m rental assistance payments into the profits of the renters. in this country, we are not in recognize crises that do not have them. we don't celebrate the bridge

doesn't collapse but maybe in this case, we should. last year, the first time that i spoke to a group of mayors, i said the fiscal policies often find vanity in the city budget. printed 2021, he may have been that our economy found its salvation and city budget. and of course jobs fully implemented in the arp is not done yet and our team is ready to continue to work with you on projects promoting affordable housing to rehiring of educators to the laying of broadband but here's a good argument without your work thus far and without the biden administration's relief funding, we would be reliving something approximating the early days of the pandemic it. and i just now, but for some

time to come. that was the lesson of 2008. during the great recession's, states were facing similar revenue shortfalls, the federal government did not provide enough to close the gap and was a profound error. they discuss pending that in your mind the broader recovery, one study concludes that for every dollar local governments can spinning during the recession, there's a corresponding drop in gdp of more than a dollar and possibly as much as $3. after 2008, state employment did not recover from the great recession until 2019. and today, i think the state equivalent unequivocably as history will not repeat itself.

[applause] >> not just protecting and toaccelerating recovery, i think that the passage of the american rescue plan finally allowed us to do what most of us came to government for, not simply to fight fires and resolve crises but to build a better country. it gave us a window to start building better post covid-19 world. and help us to alleviate the immediate crisis, the american rescue plan created the environment for new transformational legislation. the infrastructure bill, the biggest investment we've made since eisenhower built the interstate in negotiations are ongoing regarding the build bacp better legislation. and we don't know the final form

they will take, it will revolutionize how we care for the children in this country. investing climate change, and overall the international tax system to ensure corporations pay their fair share. paired together, these pieces of legislation about to up once in a generation and transformation of our economy and the two higher rates of productivity and expanded in greater gdp growth and none of it would've been possible without the american rescue plan and your partnership with treasury to implement it. and i'm forever grateful for your partnership during the last ten months and i look forward to continuing it to work with you over the years ahead. thank you very much for having me this morning. [applause]

[applause] >> thank you. [applause] ♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪♪ >> thank you secretary yellenla for being with us here today and all of the issues that you are charged with addressing, we are truly honored by your engagement in the 90th and as a reminder all attendees must be tested using antigen test prior to each day during the conference and with the testing center is open today and tomorrow from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. the mayors we have important meetings following the session it is listed on your agenda and this session is now concluded and thank you. .. :00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. mayors

at 10:00 a.m. eastern just after 11 and the discussion of the future of education for them from psychologist jordan peterson at 1:00 p.m. is the author of beyond order, 12 more rules for life. later florida governor rhonda sanchez speaks to the dinner at 8:00 p.m. watch live on c-span online@c-span.org or on our video app c-span now. >> did a supreme court justice steven breyer announced his retirement. president bill clinton nominated him to serve on the nation's highest court in 1994. he passed the senate confirmation by vote of 87 -- nine. was sworn in as the 105th justice on the court on august 3 covid 1994. corrects american history tv saturdays on c-span2 exploring

the people and events that tell the american story. at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency, we look back on the scandal that led up to president richard nixon's resignation with geoff shepard who was at the time the youngest lawyer on president nixon's white house staff. also the author of the nixon conspiracy, watergate and the plot to remove the president. then at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures in history, suffolk university professor teaches a class on politics and culture in the united states. from 1800 to the 1830s. she describes in the country change during the period between the presidencies of thomas jefferson and andrew jackson. exploring the american story, watch american history tv saturday on cspan2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. this week at the national

governors association 114th annual winter meeting in washington d.c. coverage starts at 10:00 a.m. eastern with opening a news conference and discussions on infrastructure, education, cybersecurity, and the importance of bipartisan leadership. then at 11 the first plenary session of this year's nga president asa hutchinson on his k-12 computer science education initiative. followed by a discussion of a commerce secretary with ceos from major companies. and later transportation secretary pete buttigieg will speak to governors about the recently passed infrastructure bill. that is live at 1:45 p.m. eastern. all beginning at 10:00 a.m. saturday on c-span, online@c-span.org, or you can watch full coverage on our new video app. c-span now. >> economic experts and social justice leaders joined the atlantic for a discussion on racial equity. it is half an