PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden came here Wednesday to unveil what he called “a once-in-a-generation” investment — a $2 trillion plan that he said would rebuild much of the country’s infrastructure, make “transformational progress” on climate change and push the American economy toward a more modern future while creating millions of jobs for working-class people.
“It’s big — yes. It’s bold — yes. And we can get it done,” Biden said, standing before American flags and alongside metal scaffolding and wood planks at a carpenter’s union hall.
The plan, Biden’s second major initiative as president, represents the first piece of a two-part initiative that could cost more than $3 trillion in all and raise taxes on businesses and the wealthiest Americans.
Biden presented his plan as a follow through on his promise, made when he launched his presidential campaign in in 2019, to “rebuild the backbone” of the country. Both times, he chose as a backdrop this Pennsylvania city long known for its working-class character.
The investments, he argued, would aid the “ordinary Americans” who “get up everyday, work hard, raise their family, pay their taxes, serve the country” and are seeking “just a little bit of breathing room.”
He said it would address a “distorted” economy in which the country’s wealthiest people have gained while “everyone else was falling behind.”
“This is about opening opportunities for everybody else. And here’s the truth: We all will do better, when we all do well. It’s time to build our economy from the bottom up and from the middle out,” Biden said.
Business groups and some Republicans immediately objected to the business tax increases Biden has proposed to pay for his plans, foreshadowing a fight over the proposal’s fate in a narrowly divided Congress where Democrats have almost no margin for error.
“We strongly oppose the general tax increases proposed by the administration which will slow the economic recovery and make the U.S. less competitive globally — the exact opposite of the goals of the infrastructure plan,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said a statement.
Biden’s administration argues that the proposal aims to make up for decades of neglect of the country’s infrastructure, while helping the country compete with China in the contest for economic might.
The plan would rebuild roads and bridges and invest in research and development, manufacturing, job training and clean energy. Biden calls for paying for the plan with tax increases on corporations, in large part by raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, from 21%, and increasing taxes on businesses earning money overseas.
It would require 15 years of new tax revenue to pay for what the administration envisions as eight years of spending.
Much of the plan focuses on traditional infrastructure — repairing the country’s 10 most economically significant bridges, along with 10,000 smaller ones; funding projects along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor; adding $85 billion for public transit, modernizing 20,000 miles of roads, replacing all of the country’s lead pipes. But it’s also woven with nods toward other key Biden priorities, such as fighting climate change, addressing racial inequality and aiding rural areas that have often missed out on the country’s economic gains.
“There’s talent and innovation everywhere,” the president said, arguing his plan would extend benefits into small towns, even those away from the coastal centers of power.
Among the steps are a vast expansion of broadband access, particularly in rural areas; money to rebuild crumbling schools; building 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030 and building or rehabilitating energy efficient homes. The plan would spend $400 on home care for senior citizens and people with disabilities, with an administration outline noting that care workers “are disproportionately women of color.”
“Imagine knowing that you’re handing your children and grandchildren a country that will lead the world” in clean energy technology, he said.
Biden said the plan would also include the largest nondefense increase in research and development in American history.
The proposal unveiled Wednesday comes with a $2 trillion price tag. The second piece of Biden’s infrastructure program, expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks, could reportedly add another $1 trillion or more in spending, along with another round of proposed tax increases.
That plan is expected to focus on training, education and making work more accessible, with provisions such as free community college and universal pre-kindergarten, subsidies for child care and a national paid leave program to help working parents care for children. The administration is reportedly considering tax increases on people earning $400,000 and up to pay for that portion.
Taken together, the two proposals, coming close on the heels of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package approved earlier in March, would represent a massive burst of investment, and government spending, that could shape Biden’s legacy and the nation’s economy.
He and fellow Democrats are betting that the gains from the bills, which they argue will bring relief and opportunity to everyday workers and communities that have been left behind, will overshadow concerns about cost, or likely Republican opposition.
Business groups, while welcoming the calls to invest in infrastructure, blasted the tax increases as counterproductive moves that would make American businesses less competitive and stunt economic growth.
On the other side, some liberals called the proposal insufficient for the needs and the challenges of climate change. At least two House Democrats, Bill Pascrell and Josh Gottheimer, from New Jersey warned that they won’t support the plan unless it fully restores the deduction for state and local taxes. The provision, which was limited by the GOP’s 2017 tax bill, benefits New Jersey more than any other state.
The early back-and-forth signaled that the bill is likely to face a more difficult road to passage than Bidene’s coronavirus stimulus package, even if Democrats are again able to avoid the Senate filibuster using special rules. Their control of the House is narrow, and the Senate is evenly split, meaning Democrats can’t afford to lose a single vote in the chamber without coaxing some Republican support.
“It’s fitting that President Biden chose Pittsburgh to announce his ambitious, far-reaching jobs and infrastructure plan,” Tom Conway, president of The United Steelworkers International union, said in a statement. “This city and so many like it across our nation are the homes of not only the industries that will fuel this initiative but also the union members who stand ready to do the work.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hailed the idea of “a big and bold” infrastructure program, but argued Biden’s proposal “is dangerously misguided” in how he would pay for it.
Other business groups echoed the warning that tax increases will cost jobs.
“Investment in infrastructure needs to be a priority, but this legislation appears to be less about improving infrastructure and a lot more about a political agenda, at the expense of sound economic policy that benefits all Americans,” said National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay.
