How does the bipartisan infrastructure invoice evaluate to Biden’s American Jobs Plan?

Last week, Maine Senator Susan Collins announced that she and ten others would democratic and republican Senators had reached agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure proposal. Details have been known since the announcement started to be leaked, released and reported. The announcement of a deal between members of both parties came after negotiations between the White House and Top Republicans collapsed about the President’s own suggestion.

This week, support for the plan has grown in the Senate, with more than twenty-one senators, divided into Republicans and Democrats, sign on the invoice. The proposal that serves as an antipole to the president’s $ 2.3 trillion American job plan, is about half the size and focuses on spending mainly on the physical infrastructure.

What does the new package contain?

According to a factsheet published by the Senatorial Group and published by Politico, the total value of the package is $ 579 billion. The major investments in transport infrastructure envisaged in the first draft include:

  • $ 110 billion for roads, bridges and “major projects”
  • $ 66 billion for passenger and freight railways,
  • $ 48.5 billion for public transport systems and
  • $ 88 billion for others traffic-based physical infrastructure.

WATCH: 21 moderate senators support a new bipartisan infrastructure deal, but it’s unclear whether they can get their peers on board. #MTPDaily @Kasie: “I think there is a lot of back and forth and politics to be done before we see the end of this tunnel.” pic.twitter.com/MjxXwmO9MJ

– Meet the press (@MeetThePress) June 17, 2021

For other types of infrastructure, the plan looks more than $ 266 billion to improve power, broadband and water infrastructure.

How does this compare to the American Families Plan?

The investments proposed in the plan are not so different of President Biden’s proposals.

The main difference is in price and the fact that the Senate proposal does not include funding for what the President calls “social infrastructure. “Include social investments Improving the working conditions and wages of workers in the care industry and more.

A cost comparison of the infrastructure proposals

Infrastructure type / area

American Establishment Plan (Billion)

Senate Plan (Billion)

Transport infrastructure

Highways, bridges, roads

$ 115$ 110

Public transport

$ 85$ 48.5

rail

$ 80$ 66

Electric vehicles

$ 174$ 15

Airports, ports and waterways

$ 42$ 41.3

Traffic inequalities, security, reconnecting communities

$ 45$ 12

total

$ 541

$ 293

Community / other infrastructure

Pure drinking water

$ 111$ 60

Broadband

$ 100$ 65

Electric

$ 100$ 73

casing

$ 213$ 0

Schools and VA hospitals

$ 137$ 0

Other programs

$ 28$ 21

elasticity

$ 50$ 47.2

total

$ 739

$ 266.2

Overall plan

$ 1,260

$ 559

Data: Holland & Knight’s Public Policy & Regulation Group, Investopedia and Senate factsheet

When comparing the two proposals based on their investments in physical infrastructure, that main difference is price. For each of the different areas is the American family plan has a higher price tag.

With the information available as of June 17th, a $ 721 billion gap can be identified in terms of the physical infrastructure. The gap is primarily due to the lack of funding for Public housing, schools and hospitals for veterans’ affairs in the new Senate proposal.

The areas with the largest gaps include Rail and freight Infrastructure where the President proposed $ 66 billion more than the Senator group. The differences between the proposals in terms of clean water and broadband access were also worth more than $ 60 billion.

financing

One of the promises of then candidate Biden on election campaign tour was that he wouldn’t raise taxes on anyone who makes less than $ 400,000 a year. To pay for his plan, Biden has proposed an increase in corporate tax rate. In the American Jobs Plan factsheet published by the White House, the team argued that the increase was justified because the tax law passed under Trump in 2017, the corporate tax rate reduced to twenty-one percent “,made an unfair system worse.

Citing a recent study that showed how little taxes some of the some The most profitable companies in the US, the White House argues that “Biden’s reform will reverse this damage and fundamentally reform the treatment of the largest companies in the tax code. from twenty-one percent to twenty-seven percent, which would still be a lower rate than it was before the Trump tax bill was passed in 2017. “

Republicans and a few more conservative democratsagainst an increase in the corporate tax rate to this level, let alone. Instead, they vowed to keep the corporate tax rate the same and have proposed some other funding mechanisms to fund the plan.

This includes setting up one Infrastructure Funding Authoritywhat would attract and “Leverage private investment. “The proposal almost points $ 20 billion to get the organization off the ground. Another important source of funding is the Reuse of unused Covid-19 and unemployment insurance Relief fund.

In addition, the information sheet published by the group contains “Public-Private-Partnerships, Private Activity Bonds and Asset Recycling”. Asset recycling is the process by which an asset is rented out to the private sector, with these property and are entrusted with it increasing revenue. In the transportation sector, this is usually the form of Tolls that are introduced on roadsthat will later be used for improvements.

However, critics say that companies as a for-profit company, have way too much power to set prices and can be a drain on low income families need to use the streets coming to work or driving their children to school.

One of the most controversial financing options is a “Annual surcharge for electric vehicles. “Climate-minded legislators see this proposal as a Non-runner, and a way to unnecessarily penalize those who choose to buy greener cars.

However, Maine-based Susan Collins argues that EV drivers “free riders “ because they don’t pay Gas taxes, often used to finance infrastructure projects. You don’t pay gas taxes, but you tend to have higher electricity bills, which could mean the government is double-billing them while letting the polluters off the hook.