Associated Equipment Distributors' (AED) President and CEO Brian P. McGuire; ARTBA President and CEO Dave Bauer; Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater; and National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) President and CEO Audrey Copeland issued statements following the White House releasing its framework for an infrastructure package (the American Jobs Plan).
AED
"AED commends President Biden for proposing a bold plan to rebuild the nation's physical infrastructure, including investments in roads, bridges, highways, broadband, ports, water systems and other projects," McGuire said.
"America's critical infrastructure is deficient and deteriorating after many years of underfunding. The time is long overdue for the federal government to provide the investments needed to restore the nation's infrastructure to the envy of the world. There is no better way to put the United States on the path to long-term economic growth and job creation than investments in transportation, water, telecommunications and energy infrastructure.
"The legislative process in Congress must proceed expeditiously and in a bipartisan manner. AED looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to enact much-needed infrastructure investments and to identify responsible ways to pay for the proposal without sacrificing America's productivity and international competitiveness."
ARTBA
"It is only fitting President Joe Biden announces his transportation investment plan in Pittsburgh, the city of bridges," Bauer said.
"More than 45,000 U.S. bridges are in poor condition, according to the federal government. Such a data point underscores the scope of very real national infrastructure challenges.
"The president's plan will accelerate a long overdue conversation about how to modernize our roads, bridges, public transit and other infrastructure systems. Members of Congress from both parties will rightly have their own policy thoughts.
"The most important thing is not whose plan passes Congress, but that at the end of the process the American people have increased mobility and the competitiveness of the U.S. economy is strengthened."
AEM
"The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has long championed a transformational investment in our nation's infrastructure that grows our businesses, creates more family-sustaining jobs, improves our quality of life, and protects our environment for the generations to follow," said Slater.
"President Biden's plan reflects many of the priorities outlined in AEM's ‘The U.S. Infrastructure Report' framework, including modernizing aging infrastructure assets to guarantee our global economic competitiveness, expanding broadband connectivity, creating new sector partnerships, boosting work-based learning programs, and ensuring that state and local governments have the fiscal resources they need.
"Agreeing on a long-term and sustainable funding mechanism that ensures the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. economy will require compromise, and we are committed to engaging constructively with all stakeholders to reach consensus. Equipment manufacturers applaud President Biden for seizing this generational opportunity to rebuild our country and jumpstart the economy, and we look forward to working with his administration as well as both parties in Congress, to swiftly advance and pass commonsense and bipartisan legislation under regular order. The time to act is now."
NAPA
"Asphalt pavements are critical to creating world-class roads, highways and airfields. President Biden's proposal to renew 20,000 miles of roads will directly benefit from the latest innovative asphalt pavement technologies that are economical, resilient, and environmentally friendly," said Copeland.
"The 150,000 essential, skilled workers throughout our industry stand ready to modernize these roadways. To secure a sustainable future for America's vital transportation network, we call upon the administration and Congress to approve predictable, multiyear funding for infrastructure renewal by July 4."
Key components of the American Jobs Plan include:
- $621 billion for transportation, including roads, bridges, transit, ports and airports as well as electrifying vehicles.
- $111 billion to upgrade drinking and wastewater infrastructure.
- $100 billion for high-speed broadband infrastructure.
- $100 billion to upgrade the U.S. power infrastructure.
- $213 billion to "produce, preserve and retrofit affordable and sustainable places to live."
- $137 billion for physical upgrades to public schools, community colleges, child-care facilities, VA hospitals and federal buildings.
- $300 billion to invest in U.S. manufacturing and strengthen critical supply chains.
- $100 billion for workforce development and jobs training programs.
- $400 billion for "expanding access to quality, affordable home- or community-based care for aging relatives and people with disabilities."
The administration is proposing to pay-for the American Jobs Plan through a variety of tax changes targeted to corporations, including increasing the corporate rate to 28 percent, creating a 15 percent minimum tax on the income corporations use to report their profits to investors (book income), eliminating tax preferences for the fossil fuel industry, greater tax liability on U.S. multinational corporations and more robust IRS tax enforcement.
Ultimately, it will be up to lawmakers in Congress to draft legislation and settle on funding mechanisms.
For more information, visit www.aednet.org, www.artba.org, www.aem.org and www.asphaltpavement.org.
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