WASHINGTON (AP) – Following the approval of the COVID-19 relief bill, President Joe Biden is putting together the White House’s next big priority, a $ 3 trillion investment package in infrastructure and domestic needs.
Biden met privately on Monday night with Senate Democrats when Congress already started laying the groundwork with legislation for the development of roads, hospitals and green energy systems as part of the “Build Back Better” campaign promise ”By Biden. Much like the $ 1.9 trillion virus rescue plan signed in law earlier this month, the new package would also include family-friendly policies, this time focusing on education and paid family leave.
The White House plans are still preliminary, with a combined proposal of $ 3 trillion in spending to boost the economy and improve the quality of life, according to a person familiar with the options who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Although the goal is a bipartisan package, Democrats in Congress have shown a willingness to act alone if they are blocked by Republicans.
“We need to do this,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Ahead of the virtual meeting with Biden at the annual senatorial retreat on Monday night.
Biden’s campaign for Senate Democrats comes at a time when the White House is under heavy fire for dealing with the US-Mexico border. Migrants’ crossings are skyrocketing, with images of cramped facilities that pose a humanitarian and political dilemma for the government and its allies in Congress. The focus on infrastructure shifts attention back to priorities that are potentially more popular with Americans and potentially bipartisan.
An infrastructure package would include about $ 1 trillion for roads, bridges, railways, electric vehicle charging stations and the cellular network, among other items. The aim would be to facilitate the move to cleaner energy and, at the same time, improve economic competitiveness.
A second component would include investments in workers with free community college, universal pre-kindergarten and paid family leave.
No part of the proposal has been finalized and the eventual details of any expenditure can be changed.
The general price first reported on Monday by The New York Times has been circulating on Capitol Hill for weeks, since the start of Biden’s presidency. With the House and Senate under Democratic control, the proposals must win the support of all corners of Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Democratic committee chairmen earlier this month to start working with their Republican colleagues to begin “creating a large, bold and transformative infrastructure package.”
Pelosi said the goal is to quickly build the coronavirus rescue plan, developing an economic relief plan to help “people in all postal codes, creating well-paid jobs for the future”.
The government is positioning its priorities at a politically and fiscally sensitive time, after funding its $ 1.9 trillion relief package entirely with debt. The Federal Reserve estimates that spending could raise growth this year to 6.5%, and additional spending would only increase the pressure on an economy that should already heat up.
Biden’s campaign proposed higher corporate taxes and increases for people earning more than $ 400,000 a year, effectively undoing much of the 2017 tax cuts by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
A White House official said the president was very clear about his agenda, although the details are just beginning to emerge. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
On Monday, the Chamber’s Energy and Commerce Committee debated a measure of more than $ 300 billion to invest in drinking water, broadband and other priorities. On Thursday, Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg is due to appear on the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. Next week, the Senate Finance Committee is due to release a document revising the foreign tax code as a way to pay for some of the spending.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell used his opening speech in the Senate on Monday to destroy the proposed infrastructure, warning that it would only lead to tax increases and what he called “leftist policies”.
“We are hearing that the next few months may bring a so-called infrastructure proposal that may actually be a Trojan horse for massive tax increases and other leftist policies that kill jobs,” he said.
He ridiculed Democratic proposals as similar to the New Green Deal, a comprehensive plan to deal with climate change that, he said, would cost “unbelievable sums”.
Biden is expected to work out his budget in the coming weeks, as Congress pushes the infrastructure package, which lawmakers said could be ready in the summer.