Biden is reportedly discussing an infrastructure spending plan in the wake of devastating winter storms

President Joe Biden has reportedly begun talks with lawmakers about infrastructure spending.

His plan to rebuild roads and bridges may have a "hefty price tag," The Associated Press reported.

Biden's team has used this month's harsh winter storm in Texas to talk about his plans.

Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

President Joe Biden and members of his administration have begun talking with congressional lawmakers about his plans to invest in the nation's infrastructure, according to The Associated Press.

Billions of dollars would go to transportation and infrastructure projects as part of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill passed by House lawmakers on Friday.

But Biden's plans for rebuilding the nation's roads, highways, and bridges could have a much bigger price tag. As a candidate, Biden proposed a 10-year, $1.3 trillion investment.

"Our nation's infrastructure is literally crumbling," the plan said. It continued: "It is unacceptable that one in five miles of our highways are in 'poor condition,' that tens of millions of Americans lack access to high-speed broadband, and that our public schools have repeatedly earned a D+ grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers."

Biden's team has used this month's harsh winter storm in Texas, where millions lost access to power or water, as an opportunity to begin talks about his plans, per AP. That storm reportedly may have caused as much as $50 billion in damages.

Earlier this month, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Homeland Security advisor, told members of the press the federal government and states would need to work together to prepare the country's infrastructure for future challenges, including storms.

"That's going to require the kind of technology, innovation, and close collaboration among the federal government, states, communities, and the private sector that enables us to incentivize the kinds of actions that need to be taken to build critically — to build the kind of resilient infrastructure that we will depend on in the future," Sherwood-Randall said.

Comments

Biden says K-12 education isn't working — calls for free pre-K to "grade 14"

President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised the nation's K-12 education system for fueling America's economic growth for almost a century. But, he stressed, that system may no longer be sufficient as the foundation for future prosperity. Mr. Biden's American Families Plan is taking aim at an issue that has bedeviled economists as well as millions of families struggling to stay afloat financially: A high school diploma is no longer enough to secure a middle-class life. Under the White House proposal, the nation's K-12 system would be expanded on both ends — from free pre-kindergarten education through a "grade 14," funding two years of schooling before kindergarten and two years of post-high school education through free community college. There's plenty of economic research that links rising high school graduation rates throughout the 20th century to faster U.S. economic growth. For example, broadening education help women enter the workforce and enabled men ...

New climate envoy John Kerry sold off energy holdings to avoid conflict of interest, disclosures show

Financial disclosures released by former Secretary of State John Kerry indicate that until March of this year he held hundreds of thousands of dollars of investments in energy-related companies that may end up being affected by policies he'll help shape as President Joe Biden's new climate envoy. An ABC News analysis of his assets show that in recent years, Kerry held stakes in at least three dozen companies related to the energy industry, including firms dealing in electric, oil and gas, and nuclear energy, with shares worth between $204,000 and $960,000. Kerry had also recently held high-ranking positions within firms and entities that could end up being regulated by his climate action policies, filings show. A certificate of divestiture issued by the Office of Government Ethics on March 8 shows Kerry's plan to divest from companies that could pose a conflict of interest for his new role as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, a common measure that newly appointed...

GOP Congressman Skips COVID-19 Relief Vote To Speak At White Nationalist Rally

Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, spoke Friday night at a far-right extremist rally organized by white nationalist figurehead Nick Fuentes while his colleagues in the House passed a massive coronavirus relief package. Gosar, who has served in Congress for more than a decade, submitted a request to vote by proxy due to the threat of the pandemic. Yet instead of staying home, he traveled to Orlando, Florida, where he served as a surprise headliner at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) alongside Steve King, the white nationalist former congressman from Iowa. The coronavirus aid passed the House with no Republican support and is now under consideration in the Senate. Fuentes, the main AFPAC organizer, attended both the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the U.S. Capitol riot of this year, although he claims he did not storm the building. His extremist event was held not far from the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conferenc...

Politics Now - USA

Search This Blog