Biden pitches $ 2T jobs plan, tax hike

Sweeping proposal for infrastructure biggest since 1960s

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden unveiled a $ 2 trillion plan Wednesday to rebuild the nation’s aging infrastructure, support electric vehicles and clean energy and boost access to caregivers and their pay in a massive undertaking that would be the centerpiece of his economic agenda.

Biden billed the American Jobs Plan as a domestic investment not seen in the USA since the construction of the interstate highways in the 1950s and the space race a decade later.

The plan seeks to reshape an American economy struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, while positioning the United States to fight climate change and out- compete China in manufacturing. It would pump billions into rebuilding roads, bridges and rail with a dual goal of creating millions of “goodpaying union jobs.”

Biden wants to raise taxes on corporations to pay for the eight- year spending package. He proposed increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% – resetting to the level before passage of President

Donald Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 – and overhauling how the United States taxes multinational corporations by increasing the minimum tax on U. S. corporations to 21%.

Biden detailed the plan Wednesday afternoon in a speech at a carpenters training center in Pittsburgh, calling it a “once- in a generation investment” that rewards “work, not just wealth.” He said the plan would be the country’s largest jobs program since World War II and make the country more competitive globally.

“It’s big – yes. It’s bold – yes. And we can get it done,” he said.

It’s the first piece of Biden’s larger “Build Back Better” agenda. A separate proposal addressing health care, education and child care is expected in April. The package continues a shift in U. S. policy under the Biden administration to expand the role of the federal government to meet the nation’s challenges.

“Put simply, these are investments we have to make,” he said. “Put another way, we can’t afford not to.”

Biden faces a giant test politically to find Republican support in Congress for his legislative package, though infrastructure generally has widespread bipartisan support. Republicans have balked at the suggestion of tax hikes and warned they would oppose a package that strays from core transportation infrastructure and tackles climate change and “social justice.”

“This apparently is not going to be an infrastructure package,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., said. The Republican called it a “Trojan horse” for borrowed money, debt and tax increases on “the most productive parts of our economy.”

$ 621 billion for roads, bridges, rail

The American Jobs Plan would allocate $ 621 billion to transportation infrastructure and resilience, including the repair and construction of roads, bridges, transit and rail service.

That includes $ 115 billion to modernize 20,000 miles of roads, fixing the 10 most “economically significant” bridges in the USA and repairing 10,000 smaller bridges in poor condition.

Federal funds for transit projects – improvements and expansion – would double under the plan to $ 85 billion. The plan would provide $ 80 billion to Amtrak to cover the rail service’s backlog of repairs, $ 25 billion would go toward updating airports and $ 17 billion for sea ports.

Racial equity and rural infrastructure are major themes throughout the package, which would set aside $ 20 billion to reconnect neighborhoods historically cut off by investments. The plan proposes $ 50 billion to create “resilient infrastructure” that can withstand weather- related events.

Biden wants to direct $ 174 billion to electric vehicles: the construction of a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle stations, replacing diesel vehicles, electrifying bus fleets and offering tax incentives and rebates to make electric cars more affordable.

Retrofitted homes

An additional $ 213 billion in the plan would go toward retrofitting and building more than 2 million affordable homes and commercial properties, and $ 111 billion would replace all the nation’s lead pipes and service lines and upgrade drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems.

“So that every American, every child can turn on a faucet or fountain and drink clean water,” Biden said.

The plan would provide $ 100 billion to upgrade and construct public schools; $ 100 billion to build high- speed broadband infrastructure to reach all Americans; and $ 100 billion to upgrade the nation’s electric grid and investment in clean electricity.

The plan sets aside $ 10 billion to modernize federal buildings, $ 12 billion for community college infrastructure, $ 18 billion to modernize Veterans Affairs hospitals and facilities and $ 25 billion to upgrade child care facilities.

Biden proposes a new national “energy efficiency and clean electricity standard” aimed at cutting the cost of electricity bills and electricity pollution. The plan would earmark $ 16 billion to plug orphan oil and gas wells and $ 10 billion to build a conservation workforce.

The ‘ caregiving economy,’

In one of the plan’s most expensive programs, Biden proposed $ 400 billion to expand access to affordable care for the elderly and disabled. This would involve aid to Americans to obtain services they need and expand the care workforce, including a pay boost for care workers. The majority are women of color and earn about $ 12 an hour.

Biden proposed expanding access to long- term care services under Medicaid and increasing pay through the same federal program.

Aiming to make the country more competitive against China and other nations, the plan would pump $ 180 billion into research and development in technology and climate science. This includes $ 50 billion for the National Science Foundation to invest in new technology, $ 40 billion to upgrade outdated research labs, $ 35 billion to build technology to address the climate crisis and $ 10 billion for research centers at historically Black colleges and universities.

The plan calls for $ 300 billion in manufacturing spending. It’s headlined by $ 50 billion for a new federal office to monitor domestic industrial capacity and the production of critical goods on the supply chain such as semiconductors, batteries and clean energy technologies.

“I’m convinced that if we act now, that in 50 years, people will look back and say this was when America won the future,” Biden said.

Fully paid for in 15 years

The tax overhaul, which the White House labeled the Made in America Tax Plan, seeks to incentivize job creation and investment in the USA, end profitshifting to tax havens and ensure large corporations pay “their fair share.”

The plan would eliminate a rule that allows U. S. companies to pay no taxes on the first 10% of returns when they locate investments in other countries.

Under the tax hikes and other changes – eliminating tax loopholes for intellectual property and denying companies deductions for offshoring jobs, for example – the White House projects the spending would be fully paid in 15 years and reduce deficits in the years after.

Biden said no Americans who earn less than $ 400,000 would pay more taxes under his proposal.

The U. S. Chamber of Commerce applauded Biden for “making infrastructure a top priority” but said the tax increases “will slow the economic recovery and make the U. S. less competitive globally – the exact opposite of the goals of the infrastructure plan.”

“Everybody is for doing something on infrastructure. But why haven’t we done it?” Biden said. “Nobody wants to pay for it.”

SOURCE: USA TODAY reporting and research; whitehouse. gov GRAPHIC: Javier Zarracina and Joey Garrison/ USA TODAY

EVAN VUCCI/ AP President Joe Biden unveils his jobs plan in a speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

MATT ROURKE/ AP Republicans have balked at tax hikes and say they will oppose a plan that strays far from rail, roads and other core transportation infrastructure.