In March of 2021, Joe Biden Released his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. This piece of legislation consisted of a long list of policies and means for funding public projects.
$650 billion for public transportation and roads.
First on the list, Biden’s plan would work to revamp 20000 miles of highways, main streets, and roads. It would also work to improve the conditions of the “Top Ten Economically Significant Bridges” in addition to 10000 bridges with the worst conditions.
$20 billion of this budget would go towards road safety programs in an attempt to reduce the average deaths of cyclists and pedestrians. Another $20 billion would go towards renovating neighborhoods.
$85 billion would go towards public transit doubling its federal funding. This is on top of an $80 billion investment for Amtrak.
$25 billion would go towards airport funding
$25 billion would go towards funding experimental and ambitious transportation projects.
$17 billion would go towards inland waterways, coastal ports, and port sanitation
Lastly, this part of the plan would invest $174 billion in the electronic vehicle industry. According to the White House, these subsidies would hopefully help to populate American roads with more eco-friendly vehicles.
$650 billion for community infrastructure.
This part of the plan would replace water-bearing pipes which the White House claims can improve the quality of life for upwards of 10 million American families.
$400 billion would go towards the “Care Economy” which would aid essential workers that live in poverty offering an array of community-based support systems.
$100 billion would go towards public schools and public education. $50 billion would come in the form of direct grants while the other half would come in the form of financial bonds.
$580 billion for manufacturing and research.
$180 billion would go directly to publicly funded research and the development of green energy and eco-friendly technology. This money would hopefully go towards creating job incentives for companies to create new jobs for coal miners maintaining economic prosperity as we transition to green energy as a nation.
$50 billion would be invested in semiconductor manufacturing.
In addition to the plan, The Biden Administration and the Democratic Party are looking to raise corporate taxes.
This means increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, eliminating fossil fuel company loopholes and government subsidies, and establishing a minimum tax on the income used to report corporate profits to shareholders.
Lastly, here are some of the major claims made by the White House on what this bill could achieve outside of the main expenditures.
The section of the plan that asserts we will replace lead water-bearing pipes will provide jobs to Americans who would otherwise be put out of work.
The White House claims that the plan will give women of color the support they need as the majority of essential workers fall into this demographic.
Improving infrastructure would give vital support to minority low-income communities that are vulnerable to climate change related disasters such as flooding and hurricanes.
The bill looks to revitalize digital infrastructure with more than 35% of rural Americans getting access to high-speed broadband. The goal is to eventually reach 100% coverage in American using this broadband.
The plan would build and rehabilitate more than 50000 homes for low-income families.
The Infrastructure plan would include improvements to federal offices and hospitals.
The Plan would include livable wages for the jobs it claims to create.
Given the federal income generated by the taxes approved in this plan, it would take fifteen years to completely pay this plan back.
This was the plan introduced to congress in March. For the last two months, negotiations between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have been taking place in Washington. Republicans claim that the price tag on the bill is too high. Republicans are also under the belief that much of the bill would not solve the problems it claims to fix. Democrats fight back on the necessity of the infrastructure changes the bill promises. In May, Biden offered a slimmed-down version of the bill decreasing the total cost of it to $1.7 trillion from the $2.3 trillion initially. Republicans rejected this offer and presented a counter proposal of $928 billion. This new offer excludes the $400 billion for home healthcare and $100 billion for electric vehicle subsidies as well as the funding for public education. Democratic representatives are discontented with this bill as it excludes the major benefits listed above and the overall bill is shrunk to less than half of what was initially proposed. Negotiations are said to continue into June.