The General Services Administration will distribute a $3.4 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 26 land port modernization and construction projects at U.S. northern and southern borders.

GSA said Friday it estimates the allocated funds will create 6,000 jobs annually over the next eight years and expand processing systems for commercial goods and services.

“These bipartisan investments are a historic opportunity to modernize our land ports in ways that will create good-paying jobs and strengthen supply chains, while enhancing safety and security,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan.

Projects involve work on land ports of entry in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, Texas, Vermont and Washington.

GSA said the efforts will also allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deploy new technology platforms for monitoring illicit activity and securing operations.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced additional economic sanctions on Russia’s financial institutions and expanded debt and equity prohibitions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Treasury’s office of foreign assets control imposed blocking sanctions on Russia’s two largest banks – Sberbank and VTB – and three major financial institutions – Otkritie, Novikom and Sovcom – to further restrict Russia’s critical economic sector from utilizing the U.S. dollar, securing investments and accessing global markets, the department said Thursday.

“Our actions, taken in coordination with partners and allies, will degrade Russia’s ability to project power and threaten the peace and stability of Europe. We are united in our efforts to hold Russia accountable for its further invasion of Ukraine while mitigating impacts to Americans and our partners,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

OFAC also broadened equity and debt restrictions against 13 major state-owned and private entities to limit Russia’s ability to fund its invasion of Ukraine and other priorities.

The Treasury is also imposing sanctions on additional Russian elites and their family members that have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government.

“If necessary, we are prepared to impose further costs on Russia in response to its egregious actions,” added Yellen.

U.S. President Biden on Tuesday announced the first tranche of economic sanctions as part of efforts to cut off Russia’s access to international financing in light of its actions in Ukraine.

President Biden on Tuesday signed into law a bill that seeks to identify and promote best practices and modernize acquisition and procurement processes in the federal government.

Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., and Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., introduced the Promoting Rigorous and Innovative Cost Efficiencies for Federal Procurement and Acquisitions Act in the House, the White House said Tuesday.

The PRICE ACT “is about spurring growth for our Main Street economies. It’s about supporting all entrepreneurs, minority-owned businesses, and startups, not just big business,” Neguse said in a statement published Wednesday.

The PRICE Act seeks to modernize the federal contracting process to expand access of small businesses to federal contracts and encourage government agencies to work and partner with such businesses.

“Small businesses are at the heart of the Second District, but far too often federal contracts are often out of reach for our small business owners. By expanding this access and incentivizing more federal contracts with small businesses, the PRICE Act will empower our small business owners to continue giving back to their community and hiring more workers,” Neguse added.

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Tom Carper, D-Del.; and Susan Collins, R-Maine, advanced the PRICE Act in the upper chamber.

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., have urged the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a comprehensive governmentwide policy that would make data from federally funded studies available to the public.

The two lawmakers told Alondra Nelson, acting director of OSTP, in a letter Wednesday that granting free access and re-use rights for federally sponsored research, such as publications regarding COVID-19 and cancer, could support public health initiatives throughout the country.

Wyden and Markey said the implementation of a national open-access policy would help researchers to quickly gather data for their projects and bring studies to a wider audience.

“We ask that you work quickly and aggressively to make this goal a reality, ensuring that the hard-earned tax dollars of everyday Americans are being invested in American communities and to update and strengthen current federal public access policies and to prioritize equity, sustainability, and strategic technological development,” the senators said in their missive to Nelson.

They pointed out that some libraries and other members of the scientific community cannot afford to access results published on paid journal subscriptions while some researchers lack the funds to join their publishers’ open-access programs.

The letter comes after OSTP’s report to Congress on the implementation of the public-access efforts across federal departments and agencies as laid down in a 2013 office memorandum.