President Joe Biden revealed his roughly $2 trillion infrastructure plan as a one-time capital investment spread over eight years. Biden said he would raise the corporate tax rate about 7% and reiterated that no one making under $400,000 would see a tax increase, but Republicans remain skeptical of the plan's scope and cost.
"It's big, yes. It's bold, yes. And we can get it done," Biden said in Wednesday's press conference.
The plan would put $621 billion into the transportation sector for bridges, roads, and public transit. It would direct $300 billion toward improving drinking-water infrastructure and expanding broadband access. Provisions also include building affordable housing, boosting the number of electric cars, upgrading schools and electric grids, and investing in new jobs and job training. The administration said this plan is designed to revamp the nation's infrastructure while building jobs and fighting climate change.
"The American jobs plan will lead to a transformational progress in order to tackle climate change with American jobs and American ingenuity," Biden said.
The president said that to follow through with this plan, the corporate tax rate needs to increase from 21% to 28%, adding the rate is still lower than the rates between World War II and 2017 before former President Trump dropped the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. He said increasing the rate will generate $1 trillion in additional revenue over 15 years. Biden said he's open to hearing solutions from Republicans as long as their plan doesn't include taxing anyone who makes $400,000 or less.
"Democrats, Republicans, and independents: We can do this. We have to do this," Biden said.
In California, infrastructure renewal is falling behind. A committee of over 100 professionals and experts evaluated the state's progress in 2019 and pointed to how many replacement programs have been "significantly underfunded for a long time."
The group, American Society of Civil Engineers, or ACSE, said California's stormwater, energy, public parks, and roads are considered "at-risk," while transit, bridges, and dams "require attention." Overall, the ACSE grade was C- for California, which is the same grade for the entire United States.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg acknowledges the transit desires in California.
"There is a lot of public interest in having better transportation resources and transit," Buttigieg said.
The ASCE report shows California's population is expected to grow another 25% over the next 20 years but has yet to see the "additional supporting infrastructure." Buttigieg addressed what better transit in Los Angeles could do for residents.
"There is a lot of opportunities when we do that when we give Americans those great options to get around, make sure they're affordable," Buttigieg said. "What we're doing is we're actually unlocking economic opportunity. We're giving more people a chance at the American dream, and you shouldn't absolutely have to own a car to have a piece of the American dream."
In Congress, Republicans broadly support rebuilding roads and bridges but oppose tax hikes as part of the process.
"This is not going to be apparently an infrastructure package. It's like a trojan horse," Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, said.
Biden said while he wants the GOP input, he also wants them to know he plans to act quickly.
"In 50 years, people will look back and say, 'This was the moment that America won the future,'" Biden said.
This is just the first part of the plan. The president is expected to unveil the next part of this infrastructure package in the coming weeks. It's said to focus on family, education, and child care investments.
It's possible Senate Democrats could use the budget reconciliation process to pass this infrastructure plan with a simple majority, without the GOP votes. It's the same way they passed the COVID-19 plan this year.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi set an early goal of July 4 to pass this plan, although it's likely to take longer than that.