(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Included in the reworked Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is $1 billion dollars for the Appalachian Regional Commission. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., did some of the heavy lifting in developing the bipartisan compromise bill. Gayle Manchin is co-chair of the ARC.

West Virginians who grew up in the state Robert C. Byrd built will think $1 billion over five years is small potatoes when it comes to favors. Still, the money has the potential to do good things for our region.

It would help the commission “to more adequately meet the overwhelming needs of communities impacted by job losses resulting from the decline in the coal industry. These ARC grants will be instrumental to the long-term diversification and economic growth in Appalachia,” Gayle Manchin said back in the spring. The Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization provides grants to communities affected by job losses in the coal industry.

Funding from the bill would be a big jolt for the program, which “has invested over $238 million in 293 projects touching 353 counties across Appalachia since 2015,” according to the ARC.

Fantastic. We may have the “throwing money at the problem” part of the equation in place, but does the ARC, even under the leadership of someone as close to the situation as Gayle Manchin, have the ability to get any closer to accomplishing its mission with that money?

Since 1965 — 56 years — the ARC has been pretending it was “committed to strengthening Appalachia’s economy and helping the Region’s 13 states achieve economic parity with the rest of the Nation.” Look where it’s gotten us.

It would be wonderful to hope that is changing even if the optics of the Manchins working together to secure the funding aren’t all that great. If the money is used to find real solutions to the challenges facing workers in Appalachia, it will do good for generations to come. If not … well, it’s the ARC. What else is new?