Infrastructure plan aims to create jobs, modernize transportation system

The White House is taking a broad approach to tackling the nation’s infrastructure problems.

President Joe Biden unveiled his $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan aimed at doing everything from creating millions of jobs, repairing roads and bridges, improving access to broadband and clean drinking water, providing care to the elderly and disabled, and making the nation more environmentally friendly.

During a speech on March 31 in Pittsburgh, Biden called the plan “big and bold.”

“It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago,” Biden said. “In fact, it’s the largest American jobs investment since World War II. It will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs. It will grow the economy, make us more competitive around the world, promote our national security interests and put us in a position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years.”

Funded by a corporate tax increase, the infrastructure plan would put $621 billion into transportation, including roads and bridges, public transit, ports, airports and electric vehicle development. The plan also calls for $400 billion to care for the elderly and disabled; $300 billion for clean drinking water, expanded broadband access and upgraded electric grids; and $580 billion to strengthen America’s manufacturing industry.

Roads and bridges

According to a White House fact sheet, the infrastructure plan includes $115 billion to modernize bridges, highways and roads. About $20 billion would be used to improve road safety for all users.

The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the nation a C-minus on its infrastructure report card. Most notable to truckers, the United States received a C on bridges and a D on roads.

The report said 42% of the more than 600,000 bridges are at least 50 years old and that more than 40% of the nation’s road system is in poor or mediocre condition.

The White House also pointed out that delays caused by traffic congestion cost the economy more than

$160 billion each year and that it costs individual motorists $1,000 every year in wasted time and fuel.

“It’s about infrastructure,” Biden said. “The American Jobs Plan will modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main streets that are in difficult, difficult shape right now.

“We’ll also repair 10,000 bridges, desperately needed upgrades to unclog traffic, keep people safe, and connect our cities, towns, and tribes across the country.”

As of press time, it was unclear how the administration’s plan will align with the next highway bill. The current surface reauthorization bill expires in September.

Other transportation projects

The plan also intends to modernize public transit by investing $85 billion to help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand. The White House says the investment will double federal funding for public transit, spend down the repair backlog, and bring bus, bus rapid transit, and rail service to communities and neighborhoods across the country. Part of the goal is to reduce overall traffic congestion.

Biden also is calling for Congress to invest $80 billion in reliable passenger and freight rail service. The investment would go toward addressing Amtrak’s repair backlog, modernizing the high-traffic Northeast Corridor, improving existing corridors, and enhancing grant and loan programs that support passenger and freight rail, safety, efficiency and electrification.

The plan asks for a $174 billion investment in the electrification of vehicles. It will establish grant and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector to build a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030. The plan also would replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrify at least 20% of school buses.

Other transportation investments include $25 billion for airports and $17 billion for inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry and ferries.

Funding

The White House said the plan would be funded through corporate tax hikes that would bring in more than

$2 trillion over 15 years.

Specifically, the plan would increase the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. It also would discourage offshoring by preventing U.S. corporations from inverting or claiming tax havens as their residence.

“These are key steps toward a fairer tax code that encourage investment in the United States, stops shifting of jobs and profits abroad, and makes sure that corporations pay their fair share,” the White House said.

Reactions

A surprise to no one, the reaction to the plan was largely split by party lines.

Democrats called the plan “transformational.”

“The American Jobs Plan will not only make bold, transformational investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure, it will do so with an emphasis on creating good-paying jobs, supporting American manufacturing, investing in rural and urban communities alike, and addressing the greatest challenge of our time, the climate crisis,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said in a news release.

Republicans were opposed to the tax increase, and many criticized the plan for being too broad.

Rep. Sam Graves, ranking member of the T&I Committee, said he wants to make sure that transportation infrastructure remains the priority.

“Our country desperately needs Congress to find common ground to make smart, responsible investments in our infrastructure,” Graves, R-Mo., said in a news release. “Fortunately, this is just the beginning of the process, and as Congress develops infrastructure legislation in the coming weeks, I hope the focus will be on proposals that can, in fact, gain bipartisan support.”

There have been indications that Democrats could seek to pass the legislation throug