WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is drafting the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Bill, and is putting together the next big White House priority, a comprehensive $ 3 billion package of investments in infrastructure and household needs.
Biden was in private with the Senate Democrats late Monday, as Congress has already begun laying the groundwork for legislation to develop roads, hospitals and green energy systems as part of Biden’s pledge to build better. Just like the $ 1.9 billion virus rescue plan signed into law earlier this month, the new package will also include family-friendly policies, this time focusing on education and paid family leave.
According to the person familiar with the options that demanded anonymity to discuss private conversations, the plans in the White House are still tentative, with a combined spending of $ 3 billion to boost the economy and the improve quality of life.
Although the goal is a dual package, Democrats have shown in Congress that they want to go alone if they are blocked by Republicans.
“We need to get this done,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Said ahead of the virtual meeting with Biden during the senators’ annual retreat Monday night.
Biden’s outreach to Senate Democrats comes because the White House is under fire for dealing with the U.S.-Mexico border. Migrant crossings are soaring, with images of cramped holding facilities posing 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 among Americans and possibly dual.
An infrastructure package will include approximately $ 1 billion for roads, bridges, railways, charging stations for electric vehicles and the mobile network. The aim is to facilitate the transition to cleaner energy while improving economic competitiveness.
A second component includes investments in workers with free community college, universal kindergarten, and paid family leave.
No part of the proposal has been finalized and the final details of any spending may change.
The overall price the New York Times reported for the first time on Monday has been spreading on Capitol Hill for weeks since the start of the Biden presidency. With the House and Senate under Democratic control, the proposals are expected to draw support from all corners of Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked the chairmen of the Democratic committee earlier this month to start working with their Republican counterparts to draw up a large, daring and transformative infrastructure package. ‘
Pelosi said the goal is to quickly build on the coronavirus rescue plan by developing an economic emergency plan to help people in every zip code by creating well-paid jobs for the future.
The administration is positioning its priorities at a politically and fiscally sensitive time, after its $ 1.9 billion aid package was completely financed with debt. The Federal Reserve estimates that spending could push growth to 6.5% this year, and that additional spending will only add pressure to an economy that is already expected to warm up.
Biden’s campaign has proposed higher corporate taxes and increases on people earning more than $ 400,000 annually, 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 details were only just beginning to appear. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Monday discussed a benchmark of more than $ 300 billion to invest in drinking water, broadband and other priorities. On Thursday, the Minister of Transport, Pete Buttigieg, will appear before the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. Next week, the Senate Finance Committee will release a white paper reviewing the overseas tax code as a way to pay for some of the spending.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell used his opening remarks in the Senate on Monday to narrow down the infrastructure proposal, warning that it would only lead to tax increases and what he calls “left-wing policies”.
“We hear the next few months could bring a so-called infrastructure proposal that could be a Trojan horse for massive tax increases and other left-wing policies,” he said.
He mocks the Democratic proposals as similar to the Green New Deal, a comprehensive plan to address climate change that he says would cost ‘incredible amounts’.
Biden is expected to expand its budget in the coming weeks as Congress continues the infrastructure package, which lawmakers say could be ready by summer.