U.S. Sen. Bob Casey visited the Carbon County Commissioners' meeting Thursday to talk briefly about two pieces of legislation that will affect the county.

The Community Economic Assistance Act or Senate Bill 142, aims for immediate help for communities that get hit with substantial job loss and compared it to function similarly to the Federal Emergency Management Agency response in times of natural disasters."We have a federal response to a natural disaster that is immediate and over time substantial in terms of monetary support to a community," he said. "We need a similar strategy and dynamic for when a community gets hit with an economic disaster, heavy job loss, devastating economic impacts."There would be four ways counties could be designated for help:• Loss of 250 or more jobs.• Determination that the county had a terribly adverse impact because of trade.• A localized recession.• A community that is heavily dependent on a particular energy source transitions to another energy source.Counties must also create a community development plan that would be able to identify priorities that would be used by the federal government in the event an economic disaster strikes, Casey said.Once designated for the help, communities could be assisted either in bonding authorities up to $100 million in tax credit bonds, the new markets tax credit program, direct employer incentives to hire in the form of employment credits per employee; or allowing businesses to expense up to $600,000 in investment in equipment or have a 15-year depreciation for rehabilitation of a derelict residential or commercial property."What we're trying to do is get the community to develop a plan and once those plan priorities are identified the federal government helping provide immediate aid to that particular community," Casey said. "We hope there isn't a need for this. We hope that there wouldn't be that kind of disaster that a community gets hit with but when it happens, the federal government needs to be a full partner."InfrastructureCasey also plans to introduce legislation about infrastructure, a problem area many communities around the country face.Casey said that the bill, which aims to rebuild roads and bridges, has the potential to generate an estimated 15 million jobs."Over 55,000 bridges in the country are structurally deficient," Casey said. "In Pennsylvania, that number is still far too high. Over 4,700 bridges are structurally deficient."The number of structurally deficient bridges in the state has decreased from over 5,000 a few years ago with the help of the state and transportation bill, but Casey said that is still not enough."You can't say we are doing very well when we are second in the country in structurally deficient bridges," he said.The bill also aims at focusing investments in area water and sewer systems; rail and bus systems for public transportation; and ports, airports and waterways.The bill would propose investing $75 billion into rebuilding schools across the nation, as well as improving on the country's energy infrastructure."The electrical grid in the United States suffers hundreds of avoidable power failures," Casey said, noting that the estimations to fix the failures ranges between $25 billion and $70 billion annually. "We're ranked 24th in the world behind Barbados when it comes to energy infrastructure."Two additional items that would also be covered in the legislation deal with the Internet and veterans.Casey said that 60 percent of veterans hospitals and buildings that serve area veterans are over a half century old."That's an insult to our veterans," he said.Likewise, broadband and high-speed Internet is lacking in rural communities in the state, which stop business growth from happening as well as students from properly learning."In Pennsylvania alone, 20 percent of rural areas don't have high-speed Internet," Casey said. "That's an insult to people who live in those areas, kids in schools and businesses."Before speaking about the legislations, Casey said commended the board for working so well together even across party lines.He added thatcounties face many challenges, including creating jobs and building a strong economy.