BIDEN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL WOULD BE BOOST TO OHIO

WASHINGTON — As part of its push to pass a $2 trillion infrastructure package President Joe Biden unveiled last month through Congress, the White House on Monday released state-by-state fact sheets to document the dismal state of the nation’s bridges, roads, water pipes, power grid and other infrastructure and how Biden’s American Jobs Plan might fix it.

The White House gave Ohio’s infrastructure a “C-” grade describing 1,377 bridges in the state and more than 4,925 miles of its highways as being in “poor condition.” It estimated each Ohio driver pays $506 in yearly costs from driving on poor roads. It notes that Biden’s “American Jobs Plan” would spend $600 billion on transportation infrastructure, including $115 billion to fix roads and bridges.

It said 16% of the Ohio’s trains and transit vehicles are past their useful life, and Biden’s proposal contains $85 billion to modernize public transit.

It said the state’s drinking water infrastructure will require $13.4 billion in additional funding in the next 20 years, and the proposal includes a $111 billion investment to “ensure clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.”

It said 6.2% of Ohioans live in areas without broadband infrastructure that provides “minimally acceptable” speeds, that 58.2% of Ohioans live in areas where there is only one such internet provider, and 14% of the state’s households don’t have an internet subscription. Biden’s proposal would invest $100 billion to provide universal, affordable, reliable, highspeed internet to every American household, the White House said.

“This is about making sure that America is number one and is leading the way, in a highly competitive future,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters, adding that the repairs would create blue-collar jobs in every part of the country.

Buttigieg said which proposals would be funded or how those decisions would be made has not yet been determined. Congress and the White House would negotiate how the money would be allocated.

While Republicans have complained about the scope of the bill and questioned whether some of its facets actually constitute infrastructure, Buttigieg said he hasn’t heard objections to the categories of investment the administration has suggested.

While Democrats who control Congress have expressed support for Biden’s proposal, Republicans such as Ohio’s Sen. Rob Portman have criticized Biden for suggesting it be funded by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28%. Portman says doing so would “make American workers and American companies less able to compete in the global economy.”

“We can work together to find common-sense ways to fund infrastructure legislation without resorting to partisan tax hikes which will reduce the competitiveness of U.S. companies, undermine investment in America, and harm U.S. workers and families,” said a statement from Portman.