Numbers alone don't tell the story of infrastructure bill
Have you ever read a piece of congressional legislation?
For a couple of years of my life, I read proposed bills almost every day in my role doing congressional liaison work at the Department of State. Sometimes they don't pay you enough, you know?
That said, you gain an appreciation for the painstaking work of writing legislation to make it clear who gets what or what is permitted or not permitted or who gets to decide any number of issues.
I find myself frustrated by the characterization of the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion "human infrastructure" or "Build Back Better" or - if you are a Republican - "socialist boondoggle that will drive the country to ruin" bill. First, no one will ever get his head around how much $3.5 trillion is - you can't visualize $3.5 trillion of anything. However, since this bill covers a period of 10 years, you could think of it as $350 billion a year.
Better? No? How about 1.2 percent of GDP over the 10-year period?
My point is, the dollar figures don't tell you anything useful, except that it is most certainly ambitious. And given the gap between progressives in the Democratic Party who want the whole $3.5 trillion and the moderate senators (who have gotten too much attention) who have suggested, perhaps, $1.5 trillion as a ceiling, the president seems to be trying to land on a number that starts with "two."
So, I sat down with my iPad and pulled up the text of H. R. 5376 and skimmed its XIII Titles. Here's the quick and dirty summary:
Title I deals with forestry and environmental issues. For example mitigating wildfire risks.
Title II deals with education - two years of tuition for community college, grants to refurbish schools, etc.
Title III strengthens the Clean Air Act, has grants for the water supply (think Flint, Michigan), and strengthens the electricity grid.
Title IV contains programs for housing, particularly low income.
Title V is homeland security - cyber and infrastructure.
Title VI deals with immigration (think Dreamers), but the Senate parliamentarian ruled it is not a budget issue and would not allow it, so the section is moot.
Title VII is Indian Affairs and there is a lot throughout the bill to aid America's most impoverished community.
Title VIII deals with how all of this is going to be overseen.
Title IX deals with science, space and tech. There are a lot of research grants, especially related to climate, but there are also funds for groups like firefighters.
Title X supports small business, especially for veterans and things like business incubators.
Title XI deals with transportation infrastructure, especially the transition to electric vehicles.
Title XII has more programs for veterans.
If you make it all the way to the end and Title XIII you will find the paid family and medical leave, green energy credits, the extension of the child tax credit that has done so much to reduce poverty in America, an adjustment of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and - at the very end - the increased taxes on those households making more than $400,000 a year and the higher taxes on corporations and capital gains to pay for most of this.
Of course there is much, much more, such as negotiating lower prescription drug prices, and a lot of funds that go, one way or another, to so-called "flyover country." If you want to read it for yourself, you can find the text of the bill here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376/text
In another time, we might have broken this up and debated each section, passing a series of bills. But Washington does not work like that anymore. The president - any president - has one shot to push his agenda through in the first year of his term. This bill is President Biden's one shot.
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