December 2022 / United States

In the second year of the Biden-Harris Administration, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has made significant strides in implementing President Biden’s economic agenda. This included efforts to lower costs for American families and bolster our nation’s economic resilience by addressing lingering challenges resulting from the pandemic and unanticipated global threats including Russia’s war in Ukraine. As a result of the actions taken by the Biden-Harris Administration, we enter 2023 with an economy that is on track for stable and sustainable growth while maintaining a healthy and strong labor market.

Throughout 2022, Treasury supported the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act, including through numerous engagements with Members of Congress, ongoing technical assistance, and a wide-ranging effort to build support across the country and communicate the importance of this trifecta of legislation that is strengthening the foundations of our economy. In September, Secretary Janet L. Yellen delivered a speech in Detroit laying out how these key legislative accomplishments taken together authorize some of the most significant investments America has ever made.

As the Department worked to bring down costs for American families in the immediate-term, it also begun enacting a forward-looking economic agenda that makes critical investments in our nation’s future and workforce. By working across the federal government and in partnership with state, local, and Tribal governments to implement President Biden’s economic plan, Treasury has helped expand our economy’s capacity for sustainable, resilient growth going into 2023.

Below is a look at just some of the ways Treasury delivered for the American people in 2022:

SUPPORTING FAMILIES AND THE MIDDLE CLASS

• Treasury supported the passage of – and is helping implement – the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowers the cost of essentials like prescription drugs, health care premiums, and utilities, while providing families with generous tax incentives for the purchase of clean vehicles and energy saving appliances.
• Treasury and the White House launched the revamped Child Tax Credit with additional features to help families file tax returns and claim available family credits.

• To help level the playing field for American workers, Treasury joined the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Federal Trade Commission in issuing a new report on the state of competition in the labor market and U.S. economy, which recommended market reforms.

SPEARHEADING ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND ENSURING AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDING REACHES THOSE WHO NEED IT THE MOST

• In 2022, Treasury continued to deploy funds from the American Rescue Plan to aid those impacted by the pandemic and to support a strong, equitable recovery. The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) continue to play a crucial role in allowing state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments to invest in their communities, stabilize their budgets, and respond to the pandemic. The program is also supporting and expanding the workforce with more than 3,000 projects covering $10 billion in order to assist workers impacted by the pandemic and prepare more Americans for the critical jobs being created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • Treasury approved 26 state plans to invest over $3.7 billion of broadband funding under ARP’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF). Together, these states have estimated that this funding will connect more than 936,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet.
  • Treasury also made significant progress in deploying funds from the American Rescue Plan’s $10 billion State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which aims to increase access to capital and promote entrepreneurship, especially in traditionally underserved communities. Treasury has now approved plans for 43 states and obligated over 77% of capital funds.
  • The Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program continues to play a key role in preventing mass evictions and keeping families in their homes. Today, ERA has made over 8 million payments to renters and their families at risk of eviction while making landlords whole and meeting equity goals. Over 80 percent of assistance has gone to very low-income renters. Additionally, Treasury has disbursed over $9 billion through the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) to state, territorial, and Tribal governments, providing a lifeline to homeowners at a time when refinancing or other workout options are limited.

IMPLEMENTING THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE IRS

• The Inflation Reduction Act is the single most significant legislation to combat climate change in our nation’s history, and nearly three-quarters of its climate change investment - $270 billion – is delivered through tax incentives, putting Treasury at the forefront of this landmark legislation.
• Since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in August, Treasury has worked expeditiously to write the rules that will make real the promise of this legislation.
• Within days of the law’s enactment, Treasury issued guidance on the electric vehicle tax credit and worked closely with DOT and DOE so consumers could easily find a list of eligible vehicles online.
• In the fall, Treasury held a series of stakeholder discussions with Secretary Yellen and Deputy Secretary Adeyemo to solicit input from key groups representing millions of workers, thousands of companies, and trillions of dollars in investment assets, as well as climate and environmental justice advocates, community-based organizations, and other key actors that are critical to the success of the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Treasury also hosted three formal consultations with Tribal governments and Alaska Native Corporations to hear firsthand from Tribal leaders about provisions in the law that directly affect Tribal nations.
• In November, Treasury published initial guidance on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship standards. And in December, Treasury and the IRS issued several pieces of guidance to help taxpayers access tax benefits from the law’s clean vehicles and energy efficient commercial buildings and homes provisions.
• Treasury, in partnership with the IRS, has also begun work on a strategic operating plan to set out a path for the historic ten-year investment in the IRS to modernize tax administration, improve taxpayer services and make the tax code fairer.

RESPONDING TO RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE

• Treasury, in coordination with partners and allies around the world, marshaled a historic sanctions coalition of over 30 countries to disrupt Russia’s military supply chains and deny Putin the revenue he needs to wage his war, resulting in major impact to the Russian economy and defense sector.
• Treasury also coordinated with allies bilaterally and multilaterally at forums like the G20 to condemn Russia’s actions and address the global headwinds they’ve created, including issues like food security, as well as distributing $13 billion in bilateral economic assistance to Ukraine. In addition, Treasury pressed allies and international financial institutions to also step up to support Ukraine’s funding needs and medium- and long-term reconstruction.
• Treasury, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, led the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force to freeze and seize billions of dollars of assets held by sanctioned Russian elites around the world.
• Treasury worked closely with the G7, European Union, and Australia to jointly set a cap on the price of seaborne Russian oil to restrict Vladimir Putin’s primary source of revenue for his illegal war while simultaneously preserving the stability of global energy supplies.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM FROM RISKS POSED BY DIGITAL ASSETS WHILE FOSTERING INNOVATION

• As part of President Biden’s Executive Order, Treasury published multiple reports on digital assets, offering recommendations on topics including implications for the future of money and payments, illicit finance, consumer protection, and financial stability. This work built on the 2021 stablecoin report produced by the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and was produced in consultation with financial regulatory agencies and other interagency partners.
• Soon after the failure of FTX, Secretary Yellen noted that, “Some of the risks we identified . . . including comingling of customer assets, lack of transparency, and conflicts of interest, were at the center of the crypto market stresses observed over the past week.” Treasury continues to monitor the rise in usage of digital assets, and implications for consumers, investors and the financial system.
• Treasury also issued new and innovative sanctions on virtual currency exchanges used for illicit activity, such as laundering proceeds from cyber heists.

BOLSTERING TREASURY MARKET RESILIENCE AND MAINTAINING A COMPETITIVE ECONOMY

• Treasury continued to make progress on enhancing the resilience of the Treasury Market, working with regulatory partners on steps to improve market intermediation, require more dealers to register, and make transactions more transparent.
• Treasury released a report on the impact of non-bank fintech firms on competition in consumer finance markets, identifying opportunities and risks and recommending  new protections for consumers, businesses, and the financial system.

TACKLING THE CLIMATE CRISIS

• As noted above, Treasury is playing a significant role in the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act’s historic climate change investments.
• The Financial Stability Oversight Council, chaired by Treasury, has developed and advanced 30+ recommendations to address climate-related financial risk to the U.S. financial system. FSOC also this year created a climate-related advisory committee to receive information and analysis on climate-related financial risks from a broad array of stakeholders.
• Treasury led the U.S. government’s engagement with donor countries and South Africa to establish a novel and impactful climate partnership model, the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).  Treasury then co-led donor engagement on and development of the $20 billion Indonesia JETP, the largest-ever standalone climate finance deal.
• Through a nearly $1 billion loan to the Climate Investment Funds’ (CIF) Clean Technology Fund (CTF), Treasury is helping to deliver on President Biden’s pledge to quadruple the United States’ international public climate finance pledge by FY24.

STRENGTHENING OUR NATION’S COMMITMENT TO TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

• In June, Secretary Yellen traveled to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota—the first time in history a U.S. Treasury Secretary visited a Tribal nation. During the visit, Secretary Yellen heard first-hand from Tribal citizens about the unique challenges they and Tribal nations around the country face and discuss how Tribal communities and the federal government can partner together to accelerate the economic recovery for all Tribal citizens.
• During the visit to the Rosebud Indian Reservation, President Biden announced his intent to appoint Lynn Malerba, Lifetime Chief of the Mohegan Indian Tribe, as Treasurer of the United States, the first Native American to hold that position. Chief Malerba was sworn in as Treasurer in September.
• Treasury has issued a historic level of financial support to provide critical recovery assistance and improve the health and well-being of Tribal citizens. The $20 billion in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds allocated to Tribal governments through the American Rescue Plan represents the largest single infusion of federal funding into Indian Country and is already being used to jumpstart their recovery and invest in transformative initiatives for their economies.
• In June, Treasury established a new Office of Tribal and Native Affairs, which reports to the Treasurer and coordinates Tribal relations throughout the Department.

FOSTERING EQUITY IN OUR ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE

• Treasury has made over $8.28 billion of investments in 162 Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions across the country through the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). These funds support the efforts of community financial institutions to provide loans, grants, and other assistance to small and minority-owned businesses and consumers, especially in low-income and financially underserved communities. In its implementation of ECIP, Treasury is providing additional incentives to participants for “deep impact lending,” including loans to low-income borrowers and underserved small businesses.
• In October, the Department formed the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity. The first-of-its-kind committee will provide advice and recommendations to Treasury on efforts to advance racial equity in the economy and address acute disparities for communities of color.

IMPLEMENTING HISTORIC NEW TRANSPARENCY STANDARDS TO PROTECT THE U.S. FINANCIAL SYSTEM FROM ABUSE

• Building on years of bipartisan work by Congress, the Administration, national security and law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a new rule on beneficial ownership reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act to crack down on criminals, corrupt individuals, and other bad actors who seek to take advantage of America’s financial system for illicit purposes.
• This rule will help strengthen U.S. national security by making it more difficult for oligarchs, terrorists, and other global threat actors to use complex legal structures to launder money, traffic humans and drugs, and commit other crimes that threaten harm to the American people.
• The rule also will help level the playing field for honest businesses that play by the rules but are at a disadvantage when competing against bad actors who use shell companies to evade taxes, hide their illicit wealth, and defraud customers and employees.

The White House released the first edition of a new resource titled Building a Clean Energy Economy: A Guidebook to the Inflation Reduction Act’s Investments in Clean Energy and Climate Action, which provides clear descriptions of the law’s tax incentives and funding programs to build a clean energy economy, lower energy costs, tackle climate change, and reduce harmful pollution. The Guidebook will help state, local, territorial, and Tribal leaders, the private sector, non-profit organizations, homeowners, and communities better understand how they can benefit from these investments and unlock the full potential of the law. The Guidebook walks through the law program-by-program and provides background on each program’s purpose, eligibility requirements, period of availability, and other key details.

In a letter at the beginning of the Guidebook, John Podesta, President Biden’s Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, said:

“When President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, he said the new law ‘is not just about today, it’s about tomorrow. It’s about delivering progress and prosperity to American families.’ The Inflation Reduction Act makes a historic commitment to build a new clean energy economy, powered by American innovators, American workers, and American manufacturers, that will create good-paying, union jobs and cut the pollution that is fueling the climate crisis and driving environmental injustice.”

The Inflation Reduction Act Guidebook follows the successful model of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Guidebook and creates a roadmap for the clean energy and climate funding available under the law at the program level.

Since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act four months ago, his administration has been working quickly to design, develop, and implement its programs. This Guidebook provides information on current and prospective clean energy and climate programs.

The Inflation Reduction Act builds on the foundational climate and clean energy investments in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Through his historic legislative accomplishments, along with key executive actions and international leadership, the Administration is delivering on the President’s ambitious climate agenda centered on workers, families, and communities. President Biden has made transparent communication and open engagement top priorities as a means to ensure successful implementation and to fully unlock the unprecedented benefits of the law. This Guidebook is critical step toward delivering on that vision.

To view the Guidebook in full, click here.

The Acting Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Treasury Department Himamauli Das delivered remarks to the American Bankers Association (ABA) Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference on 6 December 2022, addressing additional rule making beyond the initial reporting requirement issued by the US Treasury in September.

Director Das stated that the new rule on beneficial ownership reporting implemented by the US Treasury as part of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was only the first of three rulemakings required by the CTA.

According to Director Das, the second rulemaking is referred to as the "access rule" and will lay out protocols for access to a beneficial ownership databased by law enforcement at the federal, state, local and tribal levels as well as financial institutions.

Additionally, Director Das mentioned the third rulemaking in which the CTA requires a revision of the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) rule in order for it to be in conformity with the CTA. Those revisions must be completed no later that one year after the effective date of the reporting rule. The effective date for the reporting rule was 1 January 2024.

Note: The Treasury established FinCEN in 1990 to provide a government-wide multisource financial intelligence and analysis network. The organization's mission is to enhance US national security, deter and detect criminal activity, and safeguard financial systems from abuse by promoting transparency in the US and international financial systems.

The past year undoubtedly brought its share of daunting challenges—from Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine, to devastating hurricanes along the Atlantic Coast and fires in the West, to stubbornly high inflation around the globe.

Yet, 2022 also yielded remarkable progress for the American people. Under President Biden’s leadership, the economy continued its historic run, creating more than 10.5 million jobs since President Biden took office. Inflation has shown signs of moderating. Thanks to the landmark American Rescue Plan, we’ve continued to deploy $122 billion in funding to enable schools to hire teachers, combat pandemic-related learning loss, and support students’ mental health. We expanded and strengthened the Affordable Care Act, making it possible for four out five people who sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act to find health care coverage for $10 a month or less and helping to drive the uninsured rate to 8 percent—the lowest ever.

It was a year of historic accomplishments. President Biden signed the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, making unprecedented investments in clean energy, finally allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, setting a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket pharmacy costs, capping insulin in Medicare at $35 per prescription per month, and requiring rebates when drug prices increase faster than inflation. The President brought together Democrats and Republicans to pass the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, securing hundreds of millions in funding to prevent, interrupt, and reduce gun crime, including unprecedented investments in community-led crime prevention and intervention. President Biden also signed into law the PACT Act, expanding access to health care and benefits related to toxic exposures for veterans and their survivors, as well as the CHIPS and Science Act to boost American manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, and create jobs.

There was the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The announcement of up to $20,000 in debt relief for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers whose incomes were under $125,000, a move that could help more than 40 million borrowers. The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act to better protect our democracy. Capping off the year, thousands of Americans gathered on the White House South Lawn to celebrate as President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law—a vital step forward for an Administration that has done more to advance LGBTQI+ equality than any before it.

It’s an impressive list by any measure. But, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For every high-profile bill signing on the South Lawn, there have been dozens of other highly impactful executive actions, agency regulations, and notable initiatives centered on delivering opportunity for the American people. As we close out a remarkably productive year, here are 12 Biden-Harris Administration achievements you might have missed over the past 12 months:

1. Continued implementing a historic Day 1 Executive Order advancing equity and racial justice across the entire federal government. This included releasing 90 agency equity action plans, containing over 300 commitments on issues ranging from maternal mortality to language access to environmental justice.
2. Signed a historic executive order to advance safe, effective, and accountable community policing to build public trust and strengthen public safety by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds, adopt stricter use-of-force policies, greatly restrict no-knock warrants, implement body-worn cameras, provide de-escalation and anti-racial profiling training, establish a national database of officer misconduct records, restrict military equipment transfers, and more. The order also directed federal agencies to provide training, technical assistance, and funding to support state and local law enforcement agencies in adopting the same measures.
3. Made progress on the President’s goal of increasing the share of federal contracting dollars awarded to small disadvantaged business (SDBs) by 50 percent by 2025. In 2021, the Administration awarded a record level of contracting dollars to SDBs, with 2022 expected to set a new record.
4. Hosted the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in more than 50 years and released a National Strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030. Over $8 billion in new private- and public-sector commitments were announced at the White House Conference.
5. Launched the Rural Partners Network in 36 communities in 11 states and territories, advancing a whole-of-government initiative—led by the Department of Agriculture and supported by more than 20 federal agencies and regional commissions—that places full-time federal staff on the ground to help local leaders navigate and access federal resources.
6. Made historic investments in Tribal Nations, including more than $32 billion in the American Rescue Plan, $13 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and over $700 million in the Inflation Reduction Act specifically for Tribal Nations and Native communities. In addition, the Administration secured—for the first time in history— advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service, which will ensure a more predictable funding stream and improve health outcomes across Indian Country.
7. Hosted a historic United We Stand Summit to combat hate-fueled violence, and announced a host of new federal and nonfederal deliverables, including the launch of the White House Initiative on Hate-Motivated Violence, the creation of an online clearinghouse of prevention resources, and over $1 billion in philanthropic commitments for unity-building activities.
8. Addressed our failed approach to marijuana by pardoning all federal and D.C. simple marijuana possession offenses, urging governors to pardon state and local offenses, and starting the administrative process of the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services reviewing how marijuana is scheduled.
9. Launched a whole-of-government mental health strategy to address our nation’s mental health crisis and transform how we understand, access, and treat mental health in America, including the transition to the nationwide 988 suicide and crisis Lifeline. This includes increasing funding to community mental health organizations, school districts, and institutions of higher education to increase the number of school-based and community mental health professionals.
10. Strengthened Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by defending DACA in court against ongoing attacks, issuing a Presidential Memorandum to preserve and fortify DACA, and releasing a final rule codifying the 2012 DACA policy.
11. Reunified and provided support services to more than 570 families who were separated under the previous administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy. Of the children who remained separated when President Biden took office, more than 70 percent of their families have been contacted and offered the opportunity to reunify.
12. Proposed rules to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, which is projected to save as many as 654,000 lives, including up to 238,000 Black Americans.

Across the board, the Biden-Harris Year Two record is a record of results for the American people. It’s a record of taking on some of our nation’s toughest challenges and delivering. That’s the spirit that drove our Administration to success during 2022, and it’s the spirit we’re carrying with us into 2023. Stay tuned.

Source: The White House