Latine Community Priorities and The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: A Snapshot Analysis of Investment Trends in California, Colorado, Florida, New York, and Texas
On the second anniversary of the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (IIJA) and increasingly bleak climate outlooks propjected in the Fifth National Climate Change Assessment, GreenLatinos asks, “what does this mean para nuestra comunidad?”
To understand the promise, potential, and shortcomings of the IIJA, GreenLatinos staff from the Public Lands, Water Equity and Ocean, and Climate Justice and Clean Air programs have identified investments from 23 programs across 5 federal agencies in the states of California, Colorado, Florida, New York, and Texas to better understand if the impact of the IIJA on Latine communities.
Our team found 308 individual projects comprising over $3 Billion worth of investment in the neighborhoods and ecosystems that are home to the increasingly growing Latine population of the United States.
We’ve found that across various categories of analysis, IIJA funds are in fact reaching Latine communities on broad levels such as their states of residence. Moreover, our 5 case studies and 7 appendices demonstrate several instances of individual or multiple agencies investing in Latine communities on a city, county, and regional-ecosystem level. Third, while the ratio to investments in infrastructure is overall smaller, there are several instances of Latine-led and Latine-serving universities, community groups, and nonprofit organizations receiving funds to build capacity to directly engage in environmental stewardship and addressing long standing environmental injustices.
