WASHINGTON (AP) – Looking beyond the $ 1.9 trillion COVID relief Bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers lay the groundwork for another top legislative priority – a long-sought boost to the country’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could meet Republican backlash at a hefty price tag.
Biden and his team have begun discussions of the possible outline of an infrastructure package with members of Congress, particularly observant that Texas’ recent struggles with power outages and water shortages after a brutal winter storm offer an opportunity to reach agreement on sustainable expenditure on infrastructure.
Gina McCarthy, Biden’s national climate advisor, told The Associated Press that the deadly Texas winter storm should be a “wake-up call” to the need for energy systems and other infrastructure that are more reliable and resilient.
“The infrastructure is not built to withstand these extreme weather conditions,” said Liz Sherwood-Randall, a homeland security assistant to the president. “We know that we cannot just react to extreme weather conditions. We need to plan and prepare for them. “
A White House proposal could come out in March.
“Now is the time to be aggressive,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former South Bend, Indiana mayor who knows potholes.
At a conference with state and local highway officials Thursday, he referred to the Trump administration’s oft-promised, never-accomplished mega initiative on roads, bridges, and the like.
“I know you are among those who work the most patiently, or perhaps impatiently, and wait for Infrastructure Week to no longer be some kind of Groundhog’s Day pledge, but actually something that will bring generational investment,” said he.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, much of America’s infrastructure – roads, bridges, public drinking and water systems, dams, airports, public transportation, and more – needs to be thoroughly restored after years of underfunding. In its Infrastructure Report Card 2017, it gave the national infrastructure an overall rating of D +.
Both chambers of Congress will use their failed attempts to take the infrastructure bills as a starting point during the final session.
Democrats passed a $ 1.5 trillion package in Parliament last year, but things went nowhere with the Trump administration and the Republican-led Senate. A senate panel passed narrower bipartisan legislation in 2019 aimed at re-authorizing federal transportation programs. It also flared up when the US targeted elections and COVID-19.
Biden has spoken of greater numbers, and some Democrats are now urging him to bypass the Republicans in the tightly divided Congress to address a wider range of priorities spurred by advocacy groups.
During the presidential campaign, Biden pledged to stake $ 2 trillion about infrastructure and clean energy, but the White House does not rule out an even higher price tag. McCarthy said Biden’s forthcoming plan will focus specifically on job creation, such as with investments to boost “workers left behind” by closed coal mines or power plants, as well as communities near polluting refineries and other hazards.
“He’s long been a fan of investing in infrastructure – long outdated – long ago, I should say,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday. “But he also wants to do more in healthcare, help our manufacturing sector, do more to improve access to affordable healthcare. So the size – the package – its components, the order, that has not yet been determined. “
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Budgets, recently told the White House he’s ready to go the fiscal maneuver known as reconciliation to deliver a comprehensive economic recovery package using only democratic votes. That drew stern warnings from Republicans who have already closed the ranks against the Democrats’ emergency bill COVID-19.
Senate Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the senior Republican on the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, said there is bipartisan support for ambitious steps in infrastructure. But that “shouldn’t extend to a multi-billion dollar package riddled with other ideologically driven, unified policies that bind the hands of our states and our communities,” she said.
Capito will help draft bipartisan legislation on the side of the Senate.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the AP that he envisions a comprehensive home package that goes beyond roads, bridges and public transportation.
He also expects it will have money for water systems, broadband and the power grid – to deal with a weak infrastructure exposed after the crippling Texas power outages.
He’s not ready to talk about the total cost just yet. DeFazio, D-Ore., Said it’s up to the Biden administration and the House Ways and Means Committee to find out how to pay for it.
DeFazio said General Motors’ recently announced goal of going largely electric by 2035 demonstrates the need for massive expenditure on charging stations across the country. Biden campaigned for a plan to install 500,000 charging stations by the end of 2030.
“I’m totally willing to work with (Republicans) if they are willing to acknowledge climate change,” DeFazio said, “or if they don’t want to acknowledge climate change, they can just recognize that electric semis and electric vehicles are a flood to the horizon and we have to come for it. “
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., Expressed a similar sentiment, pushing for strong action on carbon emissions and vehicle charging stations to help achieve a “ full transition to electric. ” She also wants states to get more federal subsidies for infrastructure repairs after natural disasters and extreme weather.
Speaking at the Senate hearing where she spoke, Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland said there is bipartisan support among governors for easing congestion, reducing red tape, leveraging private sector investment and ensuring projects more resilient to cyber-attacks and natural disasters.
Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, the new chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, said his goal is for his committee to pass an infrastructure bill before Memorial Day.
In the House, Rep. Sam Graves, the top Republican on the transport panel, said Republicans would be open to a larger package as long as it didn’t contribute much to the national debt.
But many lawmakers are against an increase in the federal gas tax, a way to help pay for spending, while groups like the Chamber of Commerce argue against raising taxes on businesses during a pandemic.
White House aide, Cedric Richmond, a former Louisiana congressman, told transportation officials that the president plans to pay for most of the expenses, not increase the debt. In part, this would be by undoing some of the Trump administration’s tax cuts.
Ed Mortimer, a vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said removing items in last year’s infrastructure bill for renovating schools and low-income homes could lower the price tag because the COVID measure enacted by the House has been believed to have hundreds of billions of dollars for those purposes.
“Affordable housing, school construction, very creditable, but we’re not sure that’s a major concern for which a bill will be signed into law,” Mortimer said.
Yen reported from Austin, Texas. AP writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.