Infrastructure is on the policy agenda in Washington this week with a new infrastructure funding plan announced by the Biden Administration. Here are highlights of the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan with links to more information, and quick updates on the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, Congressional earmarking, and reauthorization of the federal surface transportation act (the FAST act) -- and a brief personal introduction!

American Jobs Plan Announced
Yesterday, President Biden announced his $2.3 trillion dollar American Jobs Plan which calls for investment in the nation’s infrastructure and workforce, while facilitating long-term economic recovery from the pandemic. The White House released this detailed fact sheet about the proposal. This is the first component of the President’s two-part “Build Back Better” plan, for which the second part, the “American Families Plan”, focusing on human services, will be released in coming weeks. The plan reflects several of President Biden’s major priorities, such as creating jobs, combating climate change -- including a call to end fossil fuel subsidies and the investment in vehicle electrification -- and dedicating aid under certain programs to disadvantaged communities to help narrow inequality

Proposed expenditures: The $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan represents spending of approximately 1% of GDP per year for a period of eight years. The plan would invest over $900 billion dollars in what would traditionally be considered infrastructure programs, with an estimated $621 billion for transportation, $111 billion for water infrastructure, $100 billion for broadband internet, and $100 billion for cleaner power. It is important to note that these amounts are supplemental to existing baseline appropriations, such as funding authorized in the federal surface transportation act. The other $1.3 trillion in the plan covers other investments including major public physical capital investment in affordable housing, public schools and colleges, research and development, and education, training, and workforce development. Here is a nice graphic displaying the components of the plan. The details of the plan are high level at this point; we do not yet know the proposed distribution of these funds, or if the proposed funding amounts are all additional federal spending, or if they are assumed to include a non-federal share of state, local, or private spending. 

Proposed funding sources: In order to pay for the plan, the administration is proposing a series of corporate tax increases over 15 years, including increasing the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent and increasing taxes on multinational corporations.

Path forward: It will now be up to Congress to decide how to proceed, to write actual legislation, and to determine whether the bill can be passed using “regular order” or will need to use the controversial budget “reconciliation” process in order to pass the Senate. The administration and Congressional democrats may try to move this proposal through budget reconciliation, which requires only 51 votes in the Senate, as they did with the American Rescue Plan. This approach seems likely, as the initial reaction from Congressional Republicans to the plan has been to decry the proposed tax increases. It also seems that this proposal is separate from the need for Congress to pass legislation reauthorizing the federal surface transportation program. All told it is unclear how the American Jobs Plan, the transportation reauthorization, and the regular appropriations process will overlap. Ultimately, there's a long way to go on this path forward and extensive congressional debate and deliberation is expected. 

The following is a summary of the uses and funding amounts of the plan:
  • $621 billion for transportation infrastructure, including: 
  • $115 billion for roads and bridges to “modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main streets” and “fix the most economically significant large bridges in the country in need of reconstruction” and “repair the worst 10,000 smaller bridges”; 
  • $85 billion to double spending for public transit to “modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems”; 
  • $80 billion for Amtrak, passenger, and freight rail to “address Amtrak’s repair backlog; modernize the high-traffic Northeast Corridor; improve existing corridors and connect new city pairs; and enhance grant and loan programs”;
  • $25 billion for airports;
  • $17 billion for inland waterways, coastal ports, ports of entry, and ferries;
  • $174 billion for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure to “win the EV market…build a national network of 50,000 EV chargers by 2030…replace 50,000 diesel transit buses…”; 
  • $50 billion for increasing the resiliency of infrastructure;
  • $20 billion to“improve road safety for all users”; and 
  • $20 billion to promote equity in historically-underserved neighborhoods for “a new program that will reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments and ensure new projects increase opportunity, advance racial equity and environmental justice, and promote affordable access”.
  • $111 billion for drinking water infrastructure, including:
  • $45 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act grants;
  • $56 billion for grants and low-cost loans to states, territories, and disadvantaged communities for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems; and
  • $10 billion to monitor and remediate PFAS.
  • $100 billion for broadband systems;
  • $100 billion for our energy infrastructure supporting a transition to 100 percent carbon-free power by 2035;
  • $213 billion to produce, preserve, or retrofit affordable housing and commercial buildings, including:
  • tax credits, formula funding, grants, and project-based rental assistance to expand affordable housing rental opportunities in underserved communities;
  • $20 billion worth of Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA) tax credits to build or rehabilitate 500,000 homes for low- and middle-income homebuyers;
  • $40 billion for public housing system infrastructure;
  • weatherization grants and a new $27 billion Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator; and
  • the elimination of exclusionary zoning and land use policies.
  • $300 billion for the manufacturing sector, including:
  • $50 billion for semiconductor manufacturing; 
  • $30 billion for medical countermeasures manufacturing; and
  • $20 billion for regional innovation hubs and a Community Revitalization Hub.
  • $137 billion for education and child care facilities, including:
  • $100 billion to upgrade or build new public schools with 50% provided by direct grants and 50% leveraged through bonds;
  • $12 billion for community college facilities; and
  • $25 billion to update childcare facilitates.
  • $400 billion for elder and disabled care infrastructure;
  • $28 billion for Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and federal buildings.
  • $100 billion for workforce development, including:
  • $40 billion for a new Dislocated Workers Program and sector-based training;
  • $12 billion for underserved communities hit by transforming economy;
  • $5 billion for evidence-based community violence prevention programs; and
  • $48 billion in our workforce development infrastructure and worker protection, including up to two million new apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships.
  • $180 billion in research and development (R&D)

American Rescue Plan 
Congress has passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which is expected to inject more than $8 billion into Utah’s economy. A significant portion ($3.8 billion) of the federal dollars will go to Utahns in the form of direct payments. The state, counties, and cities will also see a large influx of funding, with approximately $1.1 billion going to Utah counties and cities, and $1.5 billion going to the State. Click here for a summary from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget of total covid relief allocations in Utah. 

State and local officials continue to eagerly await additional guidance from the U.S. Treasury on the allowable uses and procedures for the American Rescue Plan funds. One key question is whether the one-time federal funding can be used to free up other existing funds and thereby shift those funds to other purposes, such as transportation investments. Here is a link to the ULCT white paper on the American Rescue Plan.

A Return to Earmarking
Congress is also looking to return to earmarking in the appropriations process and the surface transportation reauthorization. These “community project” funding earmarks for transportation projects will be focused on projects that are already included in a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) adopted by the relevant Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) such as WFRC and/or State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) adopted by UDOT. 

Reauthorization earmark requests are to be submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by each member no later than April 23rd, giving communities a short time-frame to pursue projects with their respective Congressional Member. (WFRC earlier provided more detailed information to communities in our region that have local transportation projects that could qualify for earmarked funding.) When considering the return of earmarks, it's worth pointing out that earmarked project funding may not actually represent additional funding coming to Utah; rather it may be Congress directing the expenditure of some of the funding that would already have come to Utah via federal formula programs and then programmed through existing processes.

Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Even as the focus at the moment is on the implementation of the American Rescue Plan and the proposed American Jobs Plan, deliberations are underway for the reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program. The current multi-year authorization legislation, the FAST Act, expires September 30, 2021 (after receiving a one-year extension). The FAST Act authorizes the funding and sets the policies for the federal transportation programs. Federal funding is a key part of Utah’s infrastructure program, providing baseline resources to maintain UDOT roads, invest in UTA expansion and maintenance projects, and fund local government road and active transportation projects through WFRC’s programs. Reauthorization legislation was developed in both the House and Senate in 2020, but legislation was not ultimately adopted. Notably, the legislation proposed in 2020 did not identify funding sources for multi-year reauthorization. 

Now, looking forward, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee is developing reauthorization legislation, as are the relevant committees in the Senate -- including Environment and Public Works for highways, and Banking for transit. As a reminder, Utah’s public and private transportation stakeholders have worked together to develop this joint set of principles for federal transportation reauthorization, which have been shared with the members of Utah’s Congressional delegation, as well as with new U.S.DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Furthermore, WFRC recently sent letters to the members of our Congressional delegation reaffirming these joint principles and expressing policy recommendations consistent with the goals of WFRC and its partners. Here is a copy of the letter sent to Senator Romney; similar letters were sent to the other members of the delegation. 

A Friendly Greeting

To our new subscribers, our consistent readers, and our friendly colleagues - I’d like to introduce myself: my name is Miranda Jones Cox and I recently started here at WFRC as our Government Affairs Manager. I came to WFRC from the Utah Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (now the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget) and am excited to work with our local, state, and federal leaders and partners in furthering the work of WFRC to promote legislative priorities and implement policies aligned with the Wasatch Choice Vision and Utah’s Unified Transportation Plan.  

My hope is that this newsletter continues to be an accurate, timely, and meaningful source of information for you and your organization. Please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time if I can assist you in any way. 

All the best,

Miranda Jones Cox
Government Affairs Manager
C 435-691-3043
wfrc.org