AED Praises “American Jobs Plan”
Published: 31/5, 2021
Associated Equipment Distributors’ (AED) President & CEO Brian P. McGuire commended President Biden for the American Jobs Plan, an infrastructure package framework released March 31. McGuire called the proposal “a bold plan to rebuild the nation’s physical infrastructure, including investments in roads, bridges, highways, broadband, ports, water systems and other projects.”
McGuire noted that the nation’s infrastructure has suffered from many years of underfunding.
“The time is long overdue for the federal government to provide the investments needed to restore the nation’s infrastructure to the envy of the world,” he said. “There is no better way to put the United States on the path to long-term economic growth and job creation than investments in transportation, water, telecommunications and energy infrastructure.”
Key components of the American Jobs Plan include:
• $621 billion for transportation, including roads, bridges, transit, ports and airports as well as electrifying vehicles.
• $111 billion to upgrade drinking and waste water infrastructure.
• $100 billion for high-speed broadband infrastructure.
• $100 billion to upgrade the U.S. power infrastructure.
• $213 billion to “produce, preserve, and retro- fit affordable and sustainable places to live.”
• $137 billion for physical upgrades to public schools, community colleges, child-care facilities, VA hospitals and federal buildings.
• $300 billion to invest in U.S. manufacturing and strengthen critical supply chains.
• $100 billion for workforce development and jobs training programs.
• $400 billion for “expanding access to quality, affordable home- or community-based care for aging relatives and people with
disabilities.”
The administration is proposing to pay-for the American Jobs Plan through a variety of tax changes targeted to corporations, including increasing the corporate rate to 28 percent; creating a 15 percent minimum tax on the income corporations use to report their profits to investors (book income); eliminating tax preferences for the fossil fuel industry; greater tax liability on U.S. multinational corporations; and more robust IRS tax enforcement. Ultimately, it will be up to lawmakers in Congress to draft legislation and settle on funding mechanisms. Nevertheless, McGuire urged Congress to “proceed expeditiously and in a bipartisan manner” on the proposal.
“AED looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to enact much-needed infrastructure investments, and to identify responsible ways to pay for the proposal without sacrificing America’s productivity and international competitiveness,” he said.