The day after U.S. President Joe Biden announced he would end his re-election campaign, Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba thanked the administration for its financial support of the capital city and openly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
“Not only has Joe Biden’s administration been particularly supportive of the city of Jackson—and I want all Jackson residents to take notice of that—we received historic funds to support our infrastructure, to support many of our operations in the city of Jackson. We should have a moment of gratitude for that,” Lumumba said during a press conference at Jackson City Hall on Monday.
“In addition to his success as President, he has a lifetime of service that I think we should recognize,” the mayor continued. Lumumba also confirmed he will attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill., the week of Aug. 19.
Funding For Jackson’s Water Infrastructure
2021 and 2022 proved to be trying years for Jackson residents. A freeze in early 2021 introduced the nation to the Jackson water crisis, as the city’s primary water treatment plant, O.B. Curtis, failed in the bitter cold, leaving the city without enough water pressure to fill its failing distribution system.
In 2022, after months of continual city-wide boil water notices, that same plant failed entirely, leaving the entire state capital scrambling to restore water service. A combined task force including both state and federal teams descended to staunch the wound.
For weeks, residents were tasked with using bottled water and water collected from other sources to brush their teeth, flush toilets, bathe and support their medical needs.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba and Gov. Tate Reeves both employed emergency protocols and Lumumba reached out to Biden for federal resources.
“Jackson, like many cities across the country, has a fragile water system. It’s our job to ensure that every person in this country has access to clean drinking water,” Environmental Protection Agency Director Michael Regan said during a joint press conference with Reeves and Lumumba at Jackson State University on Sept. 7, 2022.
The next month, the EPA placed the water treatment plant system operations and billing under federal receivership and appointed Ted Henifin as its third-party manager to bring the system back into compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
On Dec. 23, 2022, following the failures, Congress passed a $1.7-trillion government funding bill, which included $600 million to address the Jackson water crisis. That appropriation and other federal dollars identified in the aftermath of the 2022 collapse, including $100 million from the Water Resources Development Act, continue to serve as the bulk of the funds used in the ongoing effort to restore the Jackson water system.
Biden signed the legislation that same day.
The following June, he cleared the first installment of funding from that package, $115 million, part of the President’s Investing in America agenda.
The initial $115 million awarded to the Jackson Public Water System would be used to stabilize and rebuild the city’s water infrastructure, a June 6, 2023, EPA press release stated. “These activities include identifying and fixing leaks in the distribution system, developing a system-wide assessment of valves and hydrants, ensuring adequate pumping capacity to maintain water pressure and distribution, and developing a system stabilization and sustainability plan.”
“For years, the people of Jackson, Mississippi, have suffered the consequences of aging water infrastructure,” Biden said in a statement the same day. “All Americans deserve access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s why I directed my Administration to make sure the people of Jackson have the resources they need and deserve,” he continued.
Lumumba said at the time that “These funds will help provide relief to Jackson residents, who have suffered decades of water insecurity. This aid helps to restore dignity to our city.”
In general, federal funding for municipal water systems remains at a historic low, with most funding accomplished through the State Revolving Loan Funds, which converts federal dollars into low-interest loans with some limited opportunities for loan forgiveness. But the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General recently highlighted how Mississippi’s management of that loan program offered limited flexibility for Jackson’s enormous and growing infrastructure needs.
To date, Jackson is a rare example of a city with a water system with such direct federal involvement, oversight and funding.
In a 2022 interview with the Mississippi Free Press, Henifin stressed how unique the situation was, considering the significant need facing aging municipal water systems across the U.S. “The concern for the EPA and the U.S. is that I don’t think they’ve got $600 million to send to every city in the nation of Jackson’s size,” Henifin explained. “I’m glad Jackson was first in line, because as a nation, this is going to be a real problem over the next 20 years.”
Funding For Jackson’s Roadways, School Buses and Public Transportation
The Biden-Harris administration has also provided capital to support fixing Jackson’s cracked roadways, particularly Medgar Evers Boulevard; modernizing the city’s public transportation system, JTRAN; and providing millions of dollars for the Jackson Public School District to purchase new electric school buses.
U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has worked closely with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttegieg to secure both the roadway and public transportation funds.
Following the administration’s July 10, 2024, announcement of a $13.7-million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Thompson said the following: “This grant is a testament to our commitment to improving public transportation in Jackson and ensuring that our transit systems are efficient, reliable, and sustainable.”
The funding was provided under Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Thompson continued, saying that “The modernization of our bus fleet will not only benefit the environment but also enhance the quality of life for our residents.”
That news of the grant announcement comes weeks after Buttigieg’s first visit to the capital city on June 21, where he and Thompson broke ground on the Biden administration’s $20 million investment to renovate the cracked and pothole-ridden roadway of Medgar Evers Boulevard.
Beyond Jackson’s water infrastructure, roadways and transportation systems, President Joe Biden’s administration has allocated over a billion dollars to the state of Mississippi to fund expanding broadband access.
Nick Judin contributed to this story.
