Originally Posted by
tomder55
What is really sad is that few of the dollars will go to actual infrastructure improvement
Here's a list of infrastructure improvements:
$110 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects.
$40 billion for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation, the single largest bridge investment in 65 years,
$17.5 billion for major projects that would be too large or complex for traditional funding programs,
$11 billion for transportation safety,
$1 billion to reconnect communities, disproportionately Black neighborhoods, that were divided by highways and other infrastructure,
$39 billion to modernize public transit,
$66 billion in passenger and freight rail, the largest federal investment in public transit in history,
$65 billion investment in improving the nation's broadband infrastructure,
$17 billion in port infrastructure and $25 billion in airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports and promote electrification and other low-carbon technologies,
$7.5 billion for zero- and low-emission buses and ferries,
$7.5 billion would go to building a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers,
$73 billion to rebuild the electric grid,
$55 billion to upgrade water infrastructure,
$50 billion would go toward making the system more resilient -- protecting it from drought, floods and cyber attacks,
$21 billion to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites.
Paying for the bill:
Repurposing unused Covid relief funds. The bill text lists savings from rescinding unobligated appropriations for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for small businesses and nonprofit groups, the Paycheck Protection Program, the Education Stabilization Fund and relief for airline workers, among others.
$53 billion that stems in part from states opting to terminate the pandemic unemployment benefits early to push the jobless to return to work.
$49 billion from delaying a controversial Trump administration rule that would radically change how drugs are priced and paid for in Medicare and Medicaid until 2026, at the earliest. The measure would effectively ban drug makers from providing rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and insurers. Instead, drug companies would be encouraged to pass the discounts directly to patients at the pharmacy counter. It is currently expected to go into effect in 2023.
Recoup funds from fraudulent pandemic unemployment payments, how much has been stolen and how much can be recovered is not known.
$56 billion in economic growth resulting from a 33% return on investment on the long-term projects.
$28 billion by changing the tax reporting rules on cryptocurrency, $20 billion from future sales of spectrum auctions and to utilize $67 billion from spectrum sales that already occurred.
The bill won't raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year and does not include a gas tax increase or fee on electric vehicles. The initial call for raising taxes on corporations to fund the infrastructure investments did not make after strong opposition from Republicans.
Left out of the bill by Republican opposition:
$400 billion to bolster caregiving for aging and disabled Americans,
Care at home through community-based services or from family members,
Improve the wages of home health workers,
$100 billion for workforce development, which would have helped dislocated workers, assisted underserved groups and put students on career paths before they graduate high school,
$18 billion to modernize the Veterans Affairs hospitals.
Corporate income tax raise - rejected by Republicans,
Plan to end sheltering profits in international tax havens - rejected by Republicans,
15% minimum corporate income tax - rejected by Republicans.