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Edited by
Cristina Lindblad○ Infrastructure will be at the
core of the administration’s
multitrillion-dollar recovery planThe next phase of President Biden’s legislative
agenda is an economic recovery package that could
far surpass the $1.9 trillion virus relief plan in size,
complexity, and ambition.
The White House and congressional Democrats
are busy plotting strategy for the proposal, which
could be unveiled next month, kicking off a
legislative process they hope will culminate with
passage in August. The centerpiece will be possibly
the biggest infrastructure spending commitment
since the New Deal— fulfilling part of Biden’s cam-
paign pledge to “build back better.” Progressive
Democrats are eyeing much more, such as an expan-
sion of Obamacare and a public-sector jobs program,
along with a possible increase in the capital-gains tax
to help pay for it.
Democrats see a limited opening to forge
Biden’s legacy: not just restoring the U.S. econ-
omy to its pre-pandemic state, but pushing
it to break out of a decades-long pattern
of sluggish growth. The president’s virus
relief package is “going to help get us
back on the growth pattern we were on
before,” says Virginia Representative
Don Beyer, who as incoming chairman
of the Joint Economic Committee is a
leading macroeconomic policy voice
among Democrats. “The genius of
the second plan is that it gives us
the opportunity to punch GDP up
above the long-term trend.”
On the campaign trail,
Biden proposed $2 trillion
for economic rebuilding, a
step up from the $1.5 trillion
proposed in the House last year,
which Democrats now call a floor.
He hopes to succeed where his pre-
decessors have failed, when fundingdisputes stymied measures that economists say
are vital to boosting U.S. productivity over the
long term. He’s also selling the package as a way to
counter China, which has deployed public invest-
ment not only to boost its own growth but also to
build global influence.
Such arguments make the core infrastruc-
ture piece likely the easiest component to get
through Congress. Bipartisan support for high-
way, transit, waterway, and flood-mitigation pub-
lic works, as well as rural broadband, is strong,
while deficit concerns are more muted than they’ve
been in decades. There’s also a Sept. 30 deadline
for Congress to reauthorize surface transporta-
tion funding—offering a ready-made vehicle for
pursuing infrastructure measures.
“Much of our infrastructure is nearing the end of
its useful design life,” says Thomas Smith, executive
director of the American Society of Civil Engineers,
which will issue its quadrennial report card on U.S.
infrastructure on March 3. “We’ve neglected it for
far too long, and we’ve watched other countries
continue to invest and continue to move ahead of
the United States.”
The previous ASCE assessment, in 2017, esti-
mated the U.S. needed $4.5 trillion in infrastruc-
ture spending over the following 10 years. With
about $2.5 trillion already appropriated, that leftBloomberg Businessweek March 1, 2021Joe the
Builder
POTUS