President Biden’s $2 Trillion Plan to Rebuild Infrastructure.

President Joe Biden announced his infrastructure package on Wednesday, the 31st March 2021 and it focuses on infrastructure spending with a price tag of $2 trillion. In the announcement, Biden emphasized the need for building not only the roads and bridges but also the middle class as a whole.

He remarked, “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, not the top down.” and called it a transformational effort that would create the most innovative economy in the world and called it once in a generation investment in America.

White House officials said the proposal’s contribution of spending would result in 20,000 miles of rebuilt roads, repairs to the 10 most economically important bridges in the country, and a host of other projects that will create millions of jobs in the short run and add to American competitiveness in the long run.

This comes after the $1.9 trillion America Rescue Plan and would be split into two proposals. The plan’s first part is already out and the second part relating to healthcare and childcare will come out in late April.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the President is set to introduce some way for the package to clear and is eager to hear ideas from other parties. Psaki gave no details on tax hikes but the US officials are discussing raising taxes on ultra-wealthy, raising the global minimum tax on multinational corporations from 13% to 21%, and eliminating subsidies on the fossil fuel companies.

The Republicans are already signaling skepticism and President Biden has appealed for support from both the parties in the Congress saying the program would be unlike anything seen since building the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago and even called it the largest American investment for jobs since the World War II. The spending in the plan would happen over eight years and the tax increase would offset the spending in 15 years, leading to the eventual reduction in the budget deficit.

Republicans and business groups have criticized the tax proposals calling them nonstarters for negotiations. The President has said that he would continue to work on winning the Republican support for his proposal. He said that he was open to other ideas as long as they do not impose any tax increase on people making less than $ 400,000.

Some officials said that the spending in the plan would end decades of stagnation in federal investment in research and infrastructure and would return government investment in those areas as a share of the economy to its highest level since the 1960s.

The details of the package are given below:

1. Transport and Infrastructure

The persons who commute whether, by train, bus or car would feel the impact of the package. The plan is set to make a massive investment in America’s roadways, railways, and bridges with a focus on clean energy. Transportation infrastructure would get a $621 billion investment.

Spending of $174 billion would be done on electric vehicles and infrastructure. This includes a network of 5 Lakh electric vehicle stations, electric vehicles in the bus fleet, and replacing the federal government’s fleet of diesel vehicles. Tax incentives and rebates would be offered for electric cars.

Another $115 billion would go towards fixing roads and bridges where repair is needed the most. This includes 20,000 miles of highways, 10 most economically significant bridges, and about 10,000 smaller bridges. Transit systems would be modernized and airports, ports, and waterways would also be included in improvements.

“Imagine what we can do, what’s within our reach, when we modernize those highways,” Biden said. “You and your family could travel coast to coast without a single tank of gas on board a high-speed train.”

2. Access to affordable broadband Internet.

Biden said that more than 35% of rural Americans lack access to high-speed Internet and the disparity has worsened during the pandemic. Technology up-gradation with more than $300 billion will make a more affordable and equitable internet distribution throughout the country.

A $100 billion investment in broadband will ensure that it reaches 100% of people across the country. Prices would be brought down for the people who have service now and for those who were not having so that they would be able to get it now.

3. Researchers and students of color would get more funding

Research and development would be allocated $180 billion which includes $35 billion for climate research. Decades earlier America used to spend 2% of its GDP on R & D and it has come down to less than 1% now. So this has been taken care of. Half of the $40 billion allocated for research infrastructure would go to Black colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions.

4. Benefits for Small businesses

There was aid for businesses and manufacturers in the stimulus package earlier but now Biden has provided another $400 billion to strengthen and protect American businesses. It would promote and encourage the domestic production of goods.

Workers would be able to see investments in job creation and job training efforts, workforce protection would be strengthened including efforts to prevent workplace discrimination. The United States has nearly 10 million people out of work — more than the days of the Great Recession.

While many economists predict a boom this summer as most Americans get vaccinated and start traveling and dining again, there are still likely to be people left behind. This infrastructure bill is widely expected to create a lot of good-paying jobs.

5. Caregivers for the elderly and people with disabilities

The package would provide $400 billion for home and community care for the elderly. Care workers and the people who rely on them will get a big infusion of cash. Biden has remarked that for a far longer period of time, caregivers of whom women form a greater part and also women of color have been underpaid and undervalued. This would help them.

Childcare facilities will get an upgrade of $25 billion and it would expand the Medicaid programs to make more services available and eliminate a backlog that prevents thousands from getting care.

6. Improving housing and quality of life

A large part of the plan focuses on American homes, school buildings, and underground water infrastructure.

“We’ll build, upgrade, and weatherize affordable, energy-efficient housing and commercial buildings for millions of Americans,” Biden said.

The plan is to spend $213 billion to build, preserve and retrofit more than 2 million affordable homes and commercial buildings. This includes the construction of 5 Lakh homes for low and middle-income owners. An additional $111 billion will go towards clean drinking water, and the replacement of all lead pipes and service lines.

For the construction and modernizing of public schools $100 billion has been set aside. The plan also calls for $40 billion to improve public housing, $18 million for Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics, $12 billion for community college infrastructure, and $16 million to plug oil and gas wells and reclaims abandoned mines.

How will the package be paid for?

To fund his $2 trillion plan, the companies would be asked to pay up. President Trump slashed the business tax rate from 35% to 21% and now Biden wants to increase it to 28%. The economic theory says that tax increases will have negative effects such as fewer investments and hiring. But the Democrats say that the positives far outweigh the negatives and the companies would be able to handle this new level of taxation.

The plan would also eliminate a rule that allows US companies to pay no taxes on the first 10% of the returns when they invest in other countries. Eliminating tax loopholes and denying companies deductions for offshoring jobs, the Biden administration says the spending would be fully paid in 15 years