The Senate on Wednesday voted to advance bipartisan infrastructure legislation, capping weeks of late-night negotiations and launching the next step in what has become one of President Joe Biden's key domestic priorities. By a 67-32 vote, the Senate moved to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to the legislative vehicle for a bipartisan infrastructure plan with $550 billion in new spending.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced that the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) will implement a series of programs, collectively called Investing in America's Communities, to equitably invest the $3 billion it received from President Biden's American Rescue Plan Act to help communities across the country build back better.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed into law a state budget that renews funding for the Ohio OZ income tax credit for an additional two-year term. In 2020, Ohio taxpayers saved $120 million in income tax by investing into 73 opportunity zone projects throughout Ohio.

The scope of continued remote work adoption, the range of effects on urban versus rural communities, and how individual choices about where to live may (or may not) be changing all remain unclear. Smart Incentives researched recently approved state incentive programs and found four new initiatives.

Rachel Bridenstine has been promoted to Executive Director of The Development Fund of the Western Reserve (DFWR), a certified Community Development Entity of the U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund, which is managed by the Development Finance Authority of Summit County. Rachel will direct and manage all initiatives of DFWR to ensure effective operations, regulating compliance, and maximizing community impact.

New York is launching a new $100 million state tax credit program designed to give a much-needed boost to musical and theater productions and help generate additional tourism income for the city. The $100 million New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit is a two-year program designed to support the entertainment and tourism industries in New York City.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has awarded a $3 million grant to four Native-led organizations to establish a new entity that fosters and strengthens entrepreneurship in Indigenous communities across the U.S. Southwest. The new entity will serve as a "backbone" for the four organizations, enabling them to share fundraising, administrative, legal, data, and marketing and communications resources, and offering the potential to establish a fund to invest in Native entrepreneurs.

The House Agriculture Committee advanced a bill to provide as much as $8.5 billion in supplemental disaster aid for farmers and ranchers who faced disaster both in 2020 and 2021. The bill, passed unanimously, will expand coverage of losses under USDA's Wildfire Hurricane Indemnity Program-Plus (WHIP-Plus), the derecho that hit Midwestern producers last summer, producer losses from the polar vortex, and more.

The City of St. Cloud, Florida invites applications for the position of Community Redevelopment Specialist. This position requires an individual to assist with management of the daily operations of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and implement Agency programs and plans.

The Assistant Director - Westside Initiatives (ADWI) is responsible for creation, management and implementation of programming within a geographic area including the Westside, Hollowell/ML King and Perry Bolton TADs, University Choice Neighborhoods, Bowen Choice Neighborhoods, and Proctor Creek.

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This playbook provides concrete guidance on how to implement a community-rooted approach to economic inclusion—one that can build wealth within underinvested communities, while reducing economic inequities within entire cities by connecting more people, places, and small businesses to regional economic opportunity.

Automation, shifting demographics, COVID-19 and increased telework opportunities are reshaping the workforce landscape amid shifting industry needs. Counties, through local and regional partnerships and workforce development boards, are working with public, private, and nonprofit partners to help train job seekers and connect them with local employers.

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