Post edited 1:44 pm - April 19, 2021 by asanamahwa

President Joe Biden will hold his second infrastructure meeting with Democratic and Republican members of Congress on Monday, as GOP lawmakers push to shrink the president’s more than $2 trillion plan.

Biden aims to approve a package in the coming months that revamps U.S. roads, bridges, airports, broadband, housing and utilities, and invests in job training along with care for elderly and disabled Americans. Republicans have signaled they could support a scaled-back bill based around transportation, broadband and water systems.

President Biden is scheduled to meet Monday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, all of whom are former governors or mayors, to discuss his $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal.

The group, which is made up of five Democrats, four Republicans and one Independent, comprises Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Angus King (I-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.); and Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.), Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Norma Torres (D-Calif.).

Hoeven, King, Romney, Shaheen and Crist all previously served as a governor, and Cleaver, Giménez, Granger and Torres are all former mayors.

The president has said he wants to craft a bipartisan bill, but Democrats would move to pass legislation on their own through budget reconciliation if they fail to strike a deal with the GOP. As the parties have disparate visions of what qualifies as infrastructure and how big of a role the government should take in the process, it is unclear what could win support from both Democrats and Republicans.

Asked Sunday if he would back a roughly $800 billion infrastructure proposal floated by some of his Senate colleagues, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, did not explicitly endorse the figure but signaled he could support a plan with transportation and broadband at its center.

Biden to talk infrastructure with bipartisan lawmakers as GOP signals support for smaller bill

“There is a core infrastructure bill that we could pass with appropriate pay-fors like roads, and bridges, and even reaching out to broadband, which this pandemic has exposed a great digital divide in the country. … I think we could all agree to that, but I think that’s the part we can agree on, so let’s do it,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Appearing on Fox with Cornyn, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., floated the possibility of Democrats passing a smaller infrastructure proposal with GOP support and then moving to approve their other priorities on their own.

Efforts to win Republican support could raise a host of problems for Biden. The GOP wants the president to slash proposed spending on electric vehicles and care for elderly and disabled people — two priorities for Democratic lawmakers.

Hickenlooper previously served as governor of Colorado and mayor of Denver.

“These former state and local elected officials understand firsthand the impact of a federal investment in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure on their communities,” the White House said Sunday evening.

Monday will be the second time a bipartisan group of lawmakers meet with Biden to discuss infrastructure. Last week, he met with eight members of Congress in the Oval Office for nearly two hours.

Biden last month unveiled his $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal, branded the American Jobs Plan, which he said will boost America’s competitive edge on the world stage and create well-paying, middle-class jobs.

The proposal calls for repairs to 20,000 miles of roads and 10,000 bridges, expanding broadband access to rural and underserved communities, replacing all of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines to ensure clean water, investing in research and development and manufacturing, and expanding access to home and community-based care.

Republicans have also criticized Biden’s plans to offset the infrastructure spending. He has called to hike the corporate tax rate to 28%. The GOP cut it to 21% from 35% in 2017, and has resisted efforts to raise the rate again.

Last week, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told CNBC that she considers a $600 billion to $800 billion infrastructure plan a “sweet spot” that could win support from both parties. She told reporters Thursday that Republicans expect to outline an infrastructure proposal of their own.

Ahead of his first infrastructure meeting with lawmakers from both parties a week ago, Biden said he was willing to bargain with the GOP.

“I’m prepared to negotiate as to the extent of my infrastructure project as well as how we pay for it. … I think everyone acknowledges we need a significant increase in infrastructure,” he said. “It’s going to get down to what we call infrastructure.”

Agreeing on what counts as infrastructure could trip up talks. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican who met with Biden last week, said Thursday that he wants to see a bill based around the “30% of the president’s proposal that is actually infrastructure.”

It is unclear how much Biden and congressional Democrats would agree to cut from the plan to win GOP support. Wicker, the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over transportation and communications issues, said he thinks the infrastructure bill could be bipartisan.

“I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful, I’m looking on the bright side,” he said.