money Here’s what comes next for Biden’s infrastructure plan
Yahoo Finance’s Jessica Smith and Julie Hyman look ahead to the next steps of Biden’s infrastructure plan.
Video Transcript
JULIE HYMAN: But we do start with that big infrastructure proposal. And for details on that, we go to Jessica Smith in Washington. Not just details on that, but what happens now, Jess, because this is only the beginning of the process.
JESSICA SMITH: Yes, it is definitely just the beginning. This proposal now has to be turned into legislation, and the Biden administration and Democratic leaders have to get enough lawmakers on board. The White House says that it is already reaching out to Republicans. And we heard the president say yesterday, there is no reason this could not be bipartisan.
He is making the case that this is a once-in-a-generation investment in America that will make sure the US remains competitive globally. But Republicans and business groups argue that raising the corporate tax rate to 28% will make the US less competitive.
We heard from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who called the infrastructure plan a Trojan horse hiding tax increases. President Biden addressed the pushback that we're seeing from business groups and Republicans about raising the corporate rate yesterday. Let's watch.
JOE BIDEN: No one should be able to complain about that. It's still lower than what that rate was between World War II and 2017. Just doing that one thing will generate $1 trillion in additional revenue over 15 years.
JESSICA SMITH: Now, there's also some pushback from progressives who say they like what's in the plan, it's a good start, but it needs to go further. We heard from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said the US might need to spend something like $10 trillion in 10 years.
Now remember, this is the first of two long-term economic recovery plans from the White House. The next one is set to be released at some point this month. It will be called the American Families Plan, the president said yesterday. And that is going to focus more on education, child care, and health care. Myles and Julie.
JULIE HYMAN: Thank you so much, Jess. So again, not just the beginning of negotiations, but beginning of other ambitious plans to come from this administration.
