WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2021
Last Wednesday (March 31), President Joe Biden released the “American Jobs Plan,” a $2 trillion spending proposal that aims to invest in the nation by creating millions of good jobs, rebuilding the country’s infrastructure, and positioning the United States to out-compete China.
The proposal includes traditional infrastructure projects like roads and bridges, but also focuses on tackling climate change, boosting human services and fighting racial injustice.
Plan Details
According to a fact sheet released by The White House, public domestic investments have decreased by more than 40% since the 1960s.
“After decades of disinvestment, our roads, bridges, and water systems are crumbling. Our electric grid is vulnerable to catastrophic outages. Too many lack access to affordable, high-speed Internet and to quality housing,” the release reads.
“The past year has led to job losses and threatened economic security, eroding more than 30 years of progress in women’s labor force participation. It has unmasked the fragility of our caregiving infrastructure. And, our nation is falling behind its biggest competitors on research and development (R&D), manufacturing, and training. It has never been more important for us to invest in strengthening our infrastructure and competitiveness, and in creating the good-paying, union jobs of the future.”
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| levkr / Getty Images |
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Last Wednesday (March 31), President Joe Biden released the “American Jobs Plan,” a $2 trillion spending proposal that aims to invest in the nation by creating millions of good jobs, rebuilding the country’s infrastructure, and positioning the United States to out-compete China. |
Priced at $2.25 trillion and working in tangent with Biden’s coronavirus relief package, the initiative intends to give the federal government a bigger role in the U.S. economy, accounting for 20% or more of annual output. As for how the plan will be paid for, a senior administration official reported that the plan will increase the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and change the tax code to close loopholes that allow companies to move profits overseas.
Although, the plan does not include expected increases in the top marginal tax rate or to the capital gains tax and instead, would spread the cost for projects over an eight-year period and aims to pay for it all over 15 years.
Looking at specific investments, the plan allots $621 billion to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure; $689 billion for buildings and utilities; and $500 billion for worker training, research and development and domestic manufacturing initiatives. To further break things down on the transportation front, the proposal includes:
Other notable initiatives for buildings and utilities include:
According to an article published by The Hill, Biden hopes the package is passed by Congress by this summer. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noted that the longer timeline could allow for more negotiations with congressional Republicans and Democrats as it doesn’t require the same type of urgency as the prior relief plan.
“The American Rescue Plan was an emergency package, we needed to get it done as quickly as possible to get the pandemic under control, to get relief, direct checks out to Americans,” Psaki said.
“We’ve got a little bit more time here to work and have discussions with members of both parties,” she continued. “We want to see progress by Memorial Day, we’d like to see this package passed by the summer. But I certainly expect when Congress returns that the president will be inviting members to the Oval Office.”
While Psaki suggests that there are more areas of agreement than disagreement involving the plan, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has already vowed to fight the legislation.
If bipartisan support is not achieved, the White House has not ruled out using budget reconciliation to get the bill through Congress without any GOP votes.
“I think particularly around these infrastructure issues, I do think there is strong bipartisan support. I understand controversy about the pay fors, controversy about certain specifics, but let’s work together and see if there is a way for us to deliver this,” said White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain.
Tagged categories: Bridges; COVID-19; Energy efficiency; Funding; Government; Infrastructure; President Biden; Program/Project Management; Project Management; Roads/Highways; Water/Wastewater
