LORAIN, Ohio — President Joe Biden returns to Ohio Thursday with stops in Cleveland and Lorain. When political leaders, presidents especially, come to a place like Northeast Ohio it's to either push for legislation that may benefit the region or to take a victory lap on something they passed that will. For Biden, the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act falls into the latter.
That the president chose Lorain is not a surprise, a once-mighty steel town that stands to benefit beyond repairs to its bridges because the act requires that the steel for them be made in the U.S. In addition, Lorain is also a North Coast port town and the act includes $17 billion for port infrastructure and waterways.
But it is mainly about fixing bad roads and bridges that the White House estimates costs Ohioans on average $506 a year in repairs. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives our roads a grade of C- and our bridges a D. And while neighboring Pennsylvania is initially getting three times what Ohio is for bridge repair. Buttigieg said we'll see our fair share.