Biden Unveils First Piece of US Jobs and Infrastructure Plan

USA: Analyze another employment and infrastructure package 0:52

(CNN) -

President Joe Biden will present the first phase of a comprehensive two-pronged jobs and infrastructure proposal on Wednesday.

His administration will launch its months-long effort to approve proposals that will total between US $ 3 and US $ 4 trillion, according to senior administration officials.

Biden, who will detail the part of the infrastructure and climate proposal in Pittsburgh, will focus on repairing the country's physical infrastructure while driving significant investments in climate infrastructure and research and development.

"The president has a plan to fix our infrastructure and a plan to pay for it," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.

"But we are also open to having a discussion, and we certainly hope to have a discussion with members of Congress in the future."

• White House aides prepare a proposal for Biden for a $ 3 trillion employment package

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Biden's proposal will mark the first step in what is expected to be lengthy negotiations with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

There, Democrats have worked on their own versions of several key pieces of the proposal and are also in the midst of crafting potential revenue streams to pay for part or all of the plan, advisers say.

But the decision to follow through on campaign promises for a comprehensive employment, infrastructure and social safety net package underscores the desire of Biden and his top advisers to continue pushing forward proposals that have the potential to be transformative for the U.S. economy. If that means that the support of the Republican Party will be difficult to secure.

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Biden will announce the proposal in the same Pennsylvania city where he launched his presidential campaign in 2019.

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Financing Biden's infrastructure plan

This plan is a strategy that has already led to the passage of Biden's pivotal legislative achievement up to this point in his tenure: the $ 1.9 trillion covid relief package.

But it's one that also carries risks, with Democrats throughout Congress and powerful outside groups representing business, the weather, and unions all pushing for specific priorities.

The first part of the White House proposal will be funded largely through business tax increases, including an increase in the corporate rate to 28%, from its current level of 21%.

Also increases in the global minimum tax, an end to federal subsidies for fossil fuel companies, and a requirement that multinational corporations pay the US tax rate.

Internal debates about how much to pay for the proposal have been ongoing for several weeks, with White House officials keenly aware of potential inflation risks, the officials said.

Psaki told reporters that the proposal presented Wednesday would include mechanisms to fund the entire package over time.

That proposal is expected to include significant investments to repair roads, bridges, and railroads, as well as other key elements of a central United States infrastructure system that is aging and, in some places, in shambles.

It will also include a major focus on domestic manufacturing and significant funding for school and child care infrastructure.

Biden's initial proposal will also allocate significant resources to empower caregivers, an important focus of one of his campaign proposals.

The proposal presented this week will be followed, next month, by a second major package aimed at addressing social welfare, with funds aimed at expanding paid family leave, childcare and access to health care, officials said. .

That proposal is expected to be funded through a menu of tax increases that would target wealthier individuals and investors.

Biden has vowed not to raise taxes on families or individuals who earn less than $ 400,000.

The presentation of the initial proposal will mark the starting signal for what is expected to be a months-long process with legislators on Capitol Hill to agree on legislation that can be passed by both houses of Congress.

Administration officials see the first part of the proposal as the most likely to garner bipartisan support, but with many Republicans already rejecting the tax increases, Democrats are already laying the groundwork to move the proposals forward through a budget process that would allow Senate Democrats to pass them with a simple majority of votes.

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