President Joe Biden is due to make his sales pitch on Wednesday afternoon for an infrastructure plan with a price tag of $2.3 trillion, a sweeping measure that includes $621 billion for transportation projects, $111 billion for water infrastructure and $100 billion for broadband.
The president is slated to deliver a speech at 4:20 p.m. Eastern about his “American Jobs Plan” in Pittsburgh, returning to the city in the swing state of Pennsylvania after having given his first 2020 presidential campaign speech there before a union audience.
Biden last week described infrastructure as his presidency’s “next major initiative.” The rollout for his proposal comes three weeks after he signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill into law.
Biden’s infrastructure plan “will invest about 1 percent of GDP per year over eight years to upgrade our nation’s infrastructure, revitalize manufacturing, invest in basic research and science, shore up supply chains, and solidify our care infrastructure” the White House said in a statement on Wednesday that provided a wide range of details.
“These are investments that leading economists agree will give Americans good jobs now and will pay off for future generations by leaving the country more competitive and our communities stronger.”
The White House said proposed tax changes will “raise over $2 trillion over the next 15 years and more than pay for the mostly one-time investments in the American Jobs Plan and then reduce deficits on a permanent basis.” The changes include raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, hiking the global minimum tax on U.S. multinational companies, establishing what’s called a 15% minimum tax on book income, eliminating tax preferences for fossil fuels and ramping up enforcement against corporations.
The $621 billion in transportation-related spending includes $115 billion to “modernize the bridges, highways, roads, and main streets that are in most critical need of repair,” $20 billion to improve road safety for all users, $85 billion to boost existing public transit and help agencies expand their systems, $80 billion to support Amtrak and other rail projects, $174 billion to help the U.S. electric-vehicles industry, $25 billion to aid airports, $20 billion for a new program to reconnect neighborhoods cut off by past infrastructure projects and $17 billion to boost inland waterways, ports and ferries.
And see: Clean-energy ETFs surge as infrastructure plan rolls out
Biden’s plan would provide $400 billion for “the infrastructure of care in our country,” targeting the facilities or systems that care for the aging and those with disabilities.
It also calls for $213 billion to “build, preserve, and retrofit more than two million homes and commercial buildings to address the affordable housing crisis,” $100 billion for power infrastructure, $100 billion for workforce-development programs and 100 billion to upgrade and build public schools.
In addition, there is $180 billion for public investments in research and development to advance U.S. leadership in critical areas such as computing and climate science, $300 billion to “retool and revitalize American manufacturers and small businesses,” $25 billion to help upgrade child-care facilities and increase the supply of child care and $18 billion for the modernization of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics.
Read more: Here’s what’s in the White House infrastructure spending and corporate tax hike plan
“Although we think there is a reasonable chance that Congress will pass some form of the Biden plan, it will be tougher to pass this plan than it was to pass the COVID-relief bill,” said Brian Gardner, chief Washington policy strategist at Stifel, in a note Wednesday.
“Some divisions are already apparent among Democrats,” Gardner added. “For example, some northeast Democrats have threatened to oppose an infrastructure bill if the state and local tax (SALT) deduction is not restored, and progressives are upset that this proposal did not include more on climate change. Climate-related proposals will likely be included in a ‘human infrastructure’ plan that could include education, family care, and health care proposals.”
In about a month, Biden is expected to roll out that second plan related to human infrastructure — which is also anticipated to have a price tag of about $2 trillion.
Related: Biden to split massive spending plan in two, focusing first on physical infrastructure
Plus: These are the stocks for playing Biden’s infrastructure push, Stifel analysts say
Hopes for increased infrastructure spending often have been dashed in recent years, turning “Infrastructure Week” into a joke in Washington.
A key U.S. infrastructure ETF PAVE, -0.04% was trading about flat on Wednesday but has gained 48% over the past six months, while the broad S&P 500 stock index SPX, +0.81% was up 0.7% and higher by 19% over six months.
See: U.S. stocks mostly higher as Biden prepares to push infrastructure plan
And read: U.S. gets C- grade on its infrastructure report card
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