Joe Biden

This Week in the States: From Jacksonville to Sioux City, Americans See How the Build Back Better Agenda Will Impact – and Already is Impacting – Their Communities

May 07, 2021

This week across the country, Biden Administration officials – ranging from senior Administration economists and Cabinet Secretaries, to President Biden and Vice President Harris themselves – fanned out across the country, in person and virtually, to spread the message of the Biden Harris Administration's Build Back Better agenda, including:

  • How the American Rescue Plan – which President Biden signed into law in March – is making it possible to vaccinate hundreds of millions of Americans at a breakneck pace; provide resources to restaurants across the country to safely re-open their doors; get kids and teachers safely back to in-person learning; and more
  • How the American Jobs Plan will create millions of jobs while making historic investments in crucial infrastructure, like public transit and the electric grid
  • How the American Families Plan will provide countless more pathways for Americans to achieve the American Dream through universal pre-K and two years of free community college, and cut taxes for middle-class working American families

See below for some highlights from the past week in local and regional media:

President Biden in Virginia and Louisiana

Hampton Roads Daily Press: President Biden pushes for free pre-K, community college in visits to Yorktown, Portsmouth
[Matt Jones and Em Holter, 5/3/21]

President Joe Biden took a whirlwind tour of Hampton Roads on Monday to promote a $1.8 trillion proposal that includes free universal pre-K and community college.

The proposal — dubbed the "American Families Plan" by the White House — effectively would create four additional years of free public education. The plan would make preschool free for all 3- and 4-year-olds and pay for at least two years of community college for all students.

In a speech in a classroom at Tidewater Community College's campus in Portsmouth, Biden pitched it as an issue of international competition.

"The rest of the world has caught up to us," Biden said. "They're not waiting, and 12 years is no longer enough to compete in the world of the 21st century."

[...]

Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Biden calls I-10 bridge over Calcasieu River a 'recipe for disaster' in Lake Charles speech
[William Taylor Potter, 5/6/21]

Less than a year after Hurricanes Laura and Delta devastated Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana, President Joe Biden stood on the edge of Lake Charles on Thursday and emphasized the need to rebuild the city and to replace the I-10 bridge, which he called "a recipe for disaster."

Biden joined Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter as part of his Getting America Back on Track tour to promote the American Jobs Act. Biden's speech took place just in front of Lake Charles' I-10 bridge over the Calcasieu River, which was prominently featured in his plea for federal infrastructure funding.

"It's a perfect example of how we as a nation have neglected to invest in the future of our economy and the future of our people," Biden said.

Biden's visit was met with local support for replacing the bridge, which was originally built to last 50 years in 1952. The bridge was built to sustain up to 39,000 daily crossings per day, though it currently handles nearly 80,000 each day.

[...]

Vice President Harris in Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vice President Kamala Harris touts Biden administration infrastructure plan in Milwaukee visit, tours clean energy labs
[By Mary Spicuzza and Bill Glauber, 5/4/21]
Vice President Kamala Harris came to Milwaukee Tuesday to tout the administration's ambitious infrastructure plan, tour UW-Milwaukee's clean energy laboratories and talk about the importance of scientific research on her first trip to Wisconsin since taking office in January.

Her visit came as the administration gears up to push through its American Jobs Plan, a sweeping $2.3 trillion development package aimed at improving the nation's aging infrastructure, fighting climate change and creating jobs.
In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, Harris also said she believes the massive plan will improve racial equity when it comes to issues like family-supporting jobs, school safety, affordable housing, stable broadband Internet and safe drinking water.

[...]

Harris summed it all up by declaring: "Infrastructure is basically, how are you going to get where you need to go? And part of that has to be an investment in innovation so we can get to the place where other people are going."
President Joe Biden has proposed to pay for the plan in part through taxes on corporations.

[...]

Biden's infrastructure plan is meeting resistance from Republicans, who are pushing for a dramatically scaled back package.

[...]

But Harris said the administration is optimistic about winning GOP support for the plan.

Asked about the possibility of compromise with Republicans before boarding Air Force Two for Washington, D.C., she said: "We still have a real level of optimism about what is possible but we all have to approach it in an earnest way."

WTMJ Milwaukee: One-on-one with Vice President Harris: What the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan means for Wisconsin
Charles Benson, 5/4/21]
MILWAUKEE — Vice President Kamala Harris made her first trip to Milwaukee as second-in-command on Tuesday. The vice president's main stop was in Glendale at UW-Milwaukee's clean energy labs.
[...]

President Biden's plan includes $200 billion for affordable housing and $836 million to modernize schools and other targeted goals.

Benson: "What will it look like in this infrastructure plan?"

VP Harris: "We are looking at billions of dollars that are going to go into what we do to make sure America's workforce is trained to take on the jobs of the 21st century."

Another $300 billion to retool manufacturing, which accounts for about 475,000 jobs in Wisconsin.

"With a particular emphasis in making sure when we are looking at building up the skills sets, when we are looking at apprenticeships, that they're going to have equitable outcomes based on race, based on gender," Vice President Harris said.

To help pay for it all, big businesses across Wisconsin will be asked to pay a higher corporate tax rate, now at 21%, to perhaps 28%.

"Look at what's happening here in Milwaukee," said VP Harris. "Look at what's happening in investments in solar, in terms of battery and what is happening with wind turbines. That's happening right here at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and that's the kind of work we are going to invest in."

When it comes to roads and bridges, President Biden's plan also invests $600 billion. He wants another $111 billion for clean drinking water and $100 billion to increase access and affordability for the internet.

[...]

Vice President Harris and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Rhode Island

Boston Globe: Think Vice President Harris didn't need to visit Rhode Island? Tell that to the people who met her
[By Dan McGowan, 5/6/21]

[...]

It's true. Vice President Kamala Harris didn't need to travel to Rhode Island on Wednesday.

Ask any of the people Harris met in Rhode Island Wednesday and they'll tell you this was exactly the kind of place the vice president needed to visit.

A day with real people who run real businesses talking about the challenges they face and how the government might be able to make things just a little bit easier on them.

Harris' mission for the day was to tout President Joe Biden's $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan and the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, two massive spending packages that cover everything from infrastructure and manufacturing to child care and free community challenge.

But her real job on Wednesday was to listen.

She heard two-minute pitches from entrepreneurs like Fernandez and Spellman during a visit to the Social Enterprise Greenhouse, a business incubator that focuses on startups that want to create positive social change. She and Spellman had a particularly engaging conversation about what it will take to get more businesses to hire workers who might not all have glamorous LinkedIn profiles.

During a roundtable conversation with a group of resilient women who run small businesses, she made it clear that she believes child care counts as infrastructure, and she fully expects funding for those kinds of programs to remain in the American Jobs Plan. She also talked about the need to expand access to capital for women and minority-owned businesses.

So no, Wednesday wasn't the most difficult day Harris will have as vice president.

She isn't going to have a hard time convincing Rhode Island's congressional delegation to support President Biden's signature initiatives. And it's possible she wouldn't have made the trip if her new friend Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo wasn't the former governor of Rhode Island.

But there are a whole bunch of Rhode Islanders who will never forget this day, who are inspired now to do even more. And that's definitely worth the trip.

Boston Globe: After talks with small-business leaders, Vice President Harris promises: 'I will keep coming back to R.I.'
[By Christina Prignano, Alexa Gagosz, Edward Fitzpatrick, Dan McGowan, Lylah Alphonse, 5/5/21]

PROVIDENCE — While in Rhode Island Wednesday to meet with small-business leaders and promote the Biden administration's $2.3 trillion economic plan, Vice President Kamala Harris said she'll travel to Mexico and Guatemala next month for her first trip abroad as vice president.

[...]

On Wednesday in Rhode Island, however, Harris's main focus was on small businesses and big economic plans.

[...]

From there, the vice president and the commerce secretary went to the Social Enterprise Greenhouse, a network of enterprises and business leaders that helps entrepreneurs maximize their social impact, to hear from small-business owners about how they're making a difference in their communities and to talk about how new federal programs can help put people to work.

[...]

"Keep doing what you are doing, because you are models of the best of what we are doing in the country," Harris told the business owners. "It's about helping people see the possibilities."

Meanwhile, a crowd of about 50 people waited in the rain across the street from the Wexford Innovation Center, hoping to catch a glimpse of the vice president before she attended a roundtable with women business leaders.

LeAnne Drum, a Providence College senior originally from New Jersey, was heading to a physical therapy appointment when she hit the "worst traffic in Providence" that she had ever seen.

She didn't make it to her appointment. Instead, she stood outside in a light raincoat, waiting for Harris's motorcade. "This is way better than physical therapy," she said.

[...]

During the business roundtable, Harris asked female business owners to help make the case to critics in Washington for why infrastructure spending should include investing in child care. She was joined by Raimondo and Jennifer Cavallaro, owner of Beehive Café; Minnie Luong, owner of Chi Kitchen Foods; Christine Paige, owner of Bliss Medical Hair Replacement Center; and Suzanne Ellis Wernevi, founder and CEO of Luna & Stella Jewelry.

Boston Globe: Infrastructure should include child care, Harris and Raimondo say
[By Edward Fitzpatrick and Dan McGowan, 5/5/21]

PROVIDENCE — During a roundtable discussion in Providence on Wednesday, Vice President Harris asked female business owners to help make the case to critics in Washington, D.C., for why infrastructure spending should include investing in child care.

Harris said her definition of infrastructure is "things you just need to get to where you need to go."

"We should not ask women to put their jobs before their children," Harris said. "It's a false choice."

US Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo joined Harris at the event in the District Hall Providence space at the Wexford Innovation Center. The vice president had traveled to Rhode Island to promote President Joe Biden's $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan.

[...]

Raimondo, a former Rhode Island governor, said that nearly 2 million women dropped out of the workforce during the pandemic, in large part because they could not work while caring for younger children and older parents. Investment in "the care economy" is essential, she said.

[...]

As part of the American Jobs Plan, Biden is calling for Congress to provide $25 billion to upgrade child care facilities and increase the supply of child care in areas that need it most. He's also calling for an expanded tax credit to encourage businesses to build child care facilities at places of work, and $400 billion to expand access to home- and community-based care for older relatives and people with disabilities.

"The exodus of women from the workforce is an emergency," Raimondo said.

WPRI (Providence, RI): VP Kamala Harris talks with WPRI's Ted Nesi in exclusive TV interview
[By Ted Nesi, 5/5/21]

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – During a one-day visit to Rhode Island on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris met with 12 News politics editor Ted Nesi for her only local television interview on the trip.

After landing at T.F. Green Airport, Harris held two events in Providence where she touted President Biden's proposed American Jobs Plan, a multitrillion-dollar proposal to spend more money on infrastructure and other programs.

Harris talked with Nesi about why she made Rhode Island one of the first states she visited as vice president, her conversation with Gov. Dan McKee, and the crisis at the southern border.

The Providence Journal: A building plan: VP Harris talks infrastructure, economy on RI visit
[By Patrick Anderson, 5/5/21]

PROVIDENCE — Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday pitched the Biden administration's multi-trillion dollar infrastructure and family plans to Rhode Island small business owners whose stories she said show why it is needed.

"The reason that I am here is ... to carry your story as the story of America's economy and the potential of America's economy," Harris told a group of business women in a roundtable discussion focusing on how they survived the COVID pandemic.

[...]

Harris, a California Democrat and the nation's first female vice president, spent the day in Providence with U.S. Commerce Secretary and former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, who she's working with not only on infrastructure, but refugee problems at the southern border.

They argued for an expansive definition of infrastructure that includes not only roads and bridges, but high-speed internet, affordable housing and child care.

Harris defined infrastructure as "the things we just need to get where you need to go."

"Let's talk about why child care is part of that," she said.

The $2.3-trillion American Jobs Plan includes money for highways, mass transit, disaster-resistant infrastructure, drinking water improvements, broadband, eldercare, manufacturing, energy efficiency, veterans health and clean energy projects. Biden plans to pay for it by raising taxes on corporations and overseas profits.

The $1.8 trillion American Families Plan includes money for free community college, payments to families and universal preschool.

In an interview with The Journal before heading back to Washington, Harris addressed the prospect of future stimulus by outlining the administration's vaccination milestones and defended the federal government's response to requests for help to other countries slammed by a new wave of the coronavirus.

"There is a holistic approach," Harris said. "It is about direct relief. But that was really about what we called it: a rescue plan to help people who were literally drowning. Now we are working on the American jobs plan. Now we are working on the American family plan."

[...]
Second Gentleman Emhoff and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in Memphis

Memphis Commercial Appeal: Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh visit jobs program in Memphis
[Samuel Hardiman and Micaela A Watts, 5/6/21]

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh made an appearance at the Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center in the Whitehaven area Thursday morning.

The visit, Emhoff's 13th stop in the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration, comes as the Biden administration is ramping up to push through the American Jobs Plan, an ambitious $2.3 trillion development package aimed at improving the nation's infrastructure and advancing the fight against climate change while creating jobs. The stop is part of a tour touting the benefits of the plan.

[...]

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Buttigieg views aging Pittsburgh bridges, says it's time for 'generational investment'
[By Ed Blazina and Ashley Murray, 5/6/21]
"Mr. Buttigieg said he saw crumbling bridges with aprons underneath to catch falling parts and heard about a system of locks and dams that has outlived its expected lifespan by more than 50 years while he was on the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. But he said he also saw a vibrant transportation system with many boats on the rivers, planes flying overhead, the light rail system and many tractor-trailers on the highways."

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg promotes $2.3 trillion infrastructure package in Pittsburgh
[By Natasha Lindstrom, 5/6/21]
"We're not just going to build back to where things were," Buttigieg said. "... We're building infrastructure that's going to make sense for the next 100 years. And to do that we need to think different. And Pittsburgh reflects that in so many ways."

WESA-FM: Pittsburgh Is The Perfect Place To Talk Infrastructure, Buttigieg Says
[By Margaret J. Krauss, 5/6/21]
"Buttigieg said that while infrastructure was the theme of his visit, "the point of this plan is jobs." And he promised that the work of overhauling the nation would be done with American labor to create family-sustaining jobs."

KDKA (CBS Pittsburgh): 'A State Of Disrepair': Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg Drops By Pittsburgh, Tours Bridges And More As Part Of Infrastructure Plan
[By Jon Delano, 5/6/21]
"United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is in Pittsburgh today, touring our bridges as part of the Biden administration's work to gain support for the American Jobs Plan. The...plan is aimed at putting people back to work by rebuilding the country's infrastructure."

WTAE (ABC Pittsburgh): Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg plugs Biden's jobs plan in Pittsburgh
[By Paul Van Osdol, 5/6/21]
"He responded to Republican criticism that the plan is too costly and includes non-infrastructure items like subsidies for child care and electric vehicles.We view these things as fitting together and they are absolutely part of infrastructure in the broadest sense, which is the things that make it possible for us to thrive and have an economy," Buttigieg said."

York Daily Record: Why Pete Buttigieg visited Pittsburgh and called for a 'generational investment'
[By J.D. Prose, 5/7/21]
"Buttigieg said the Emsworth Locks and Dam, at more than 70 years old, needs critical repairs. If it were to fail, he said the Port of Pittsburgh would be closed, "devastating the economy of the region, and endangering thousands of jobs."

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Austin

KXAN NBC Austin: Transportation Secretary: Thousands of miles of Texas roads in poor condition is 'unacceptable'
[Wes Rapaport, 5/5/21]

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Pitching the Biden Administration's American Jobs Plan, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the $2 trillion expenditure would vastly improve the Lone Star State's infrastructure and bring jobs to the state.

The plan, Buttigieg said Wednesday in an interview, would bolster investments in Texas — among them — fixing roadways, improve broadband and boost public transportation.

According to the White House, there are 818 bridges and more than 19,400 miles of highway in "poor condition" in Texas.

"That's unacceptable in the United States of America," Buttigieg said. "And it demonstrates the consequences of failing to invest over the years."

[...]

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Jacksonville

News 4 Jacksonville: Buttigieg: Having good broadband access is not a luxury, it's a necessity
[Jim Piggott, 5/5/21]

[...]

Another issue in Florida is that 6% of Floridians live in areas where, by one definition, there is no broadband infrastructure with minimally acceptable speeds. A News4Jax investigative report found that in some communities, emergency response service and response times suffered as a result of these disparities.

Buttigieg acknowledged that's simply not acceptable.

"As we go into the 2020s, having good broadband access is not a luxury, it's a necessity. I know that this isn't one of the more traditional parts of the infrastructure vision we're putting forward, but we think it's one of the most important because right now having a good internet connection is just as important as having a good connection to the interstate highway system," Buttigieg said. "You need both in order for a community or, for that matter a family, to prosper. As you mentioned, it is a safety issue. It's certainly an economic issue. It's a fairness and equity issue for everything from doing your homework to participating in today's economy."

[...]

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in Miami

CBS4 Miami: VIDEO: Miguel Cardona Shares President Biden's Vision For Education In America
[Jim Defede, 5/3/21]

CBS4's Jim DeFede went one-on-one with the education secretary.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Grand Rapids

WOODTV: USDA Secretary Vilsack on Biden's jobs, families plans | WOODTV.com
[By Rick Albin, 4/30/21]
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — During his first address to a joint session of Congress this week, President Joe Biden unveiled a number of sweeping plans to deal with what he says are problems in the country that need once in a lifetime investments.

One such plan would deal with more nutritional support for children from chronically impoverished areas. It would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue and expand those programs year-round, not just during the school year.

Political Reporter Rick Albin talked to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about Republican concerns over the cost of the president's two massive infrastructure proposals, which would cost $4.1 trillion.

The former Iowa governor says it's about return on investment.

"The reality is that businesses are going to benefit from the American Jobs Plan, a plan that is basically going to invest in the infrastructure necessary for business to be successful. When you've got better roads and bridges and you've got better airports and ports and better inland water systems, you can get your product to market more quickly, more efficiently, more competitively and you can profit from that.

When you have expansion of broadband and you're a small business owner in a rural area, you have the opportunity to open up markets that you didn't have before because now you have the technology to reach those markets," he told News 8.

Vislack says there are a lot of opportunities in the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan.

"If you're a farmer, you're excited about the climate smart agriculture investment, the bio-based manufacturing investment, the fact that your rural coop is going to get resources to transition to clean and less expensive energy, all of that incredibly important. So, you're excited about the American Jobs Plan and you recognize at the end of the day corporations and the country will benefit from this investment in infrastructure," Vislack said.

He went on to explain some of the benefits proposed in the president's $1.8 trillion families plan.

"On the American Families Plan, you also recognize out there in rural areas, a lot of families are struggling. And the fact that they get a tax credit for their children, they get a tax credit for the child care they have to pay —that's very expensive — makes it a little bit easier, lowers taxes most middle class and low-income families. And if you are making less than $400,000 as a couple, you're not going to be impacted at all by the increases. If you're making more than $400,000, you may be impacted, but I think most families would be more than happy to change places with folks who are making $400,000 if it meant they had to pay a little more tax," Vilsack said.

EPA Administrator Regan in Missouri

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: New EPA leader visits St. Louis, calls for 'revitalizing' city's water system
[By Bryce Gray, 5/6/2021]
ST. LOUIS — The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency joined local leaders in rallying support for massive investment in water infrastructure during a Wednesday visit to a major St. Louis treatment facility.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan and local officials said Chain of Rocks Water Treatment Facility in St. Louis can still provide safe water to city residents — water that is often recognized as some of the best in the country.

But, as the 1889 cornerstone in front of the building might suggest, plenty of equipment at the Chain of Rocks facility is aging and in need of replacement. And in all, the city says it faces a list of water fixes and upgrades that will cost $400 million.

Regan and others hope that such funding can come from the $111 billion component of President Joe Biden's $2 trillion American Jobs Plan intended to revitalize the nation's drinking water and wastewater systems as they cope with age and climate change.

[...]

KTVI FOX St. Louis: Head of the EPA tours north St. Louis water plant, touts need for infrastructure spending
[By Kelley Hoskins, 5/5/2021]
ST. LOUIS – EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited St. Louis on Wednesday to tour the Chain of Rocks Water Purification Plant, where he was joined by elected officials who spoke out about the need for federal investments like those outlined in President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan.

[...]

During the tour, city leaders informed Regan parts of the facility still in operation are more than 100 years old and that St. Louis is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed upgrades for improvements to help keep the plant operational.

President Biden's American Jobs Plan would give $2 trillion in investments in roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, and nearly $111 billion of that would go toward modernizing aging drinking water, storm water, and wastewater systems.
[...]

Joseph R. Biden, This Week in the States: From Jacksonville to Sioux City, Americans See How the Build Back Better Agenda Will Impact – and Already is Impacting – Their Communities Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/349855

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