Equitable Growth president and CEO responds to passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Elena Waskey, ewaskey@equitablegrowth.org
WASHINGTON – President Biden today signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, providing $1.2 trillion in new government investments to create millions of jobs, increase U.S. economic competitiveness abroad, and help address the climate crisis.
This once-in-a-generation physical infrastructure investment is part of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, which also includes the still-pending Build Back Better Act. The newly signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act contains multiple provisions that will:
- Create millions of jobs within the transportation sector, with investments in passenger and freight rail, bridges, roads, airports, ports, and public transit
- Guarantee safe drinking water by eliminating the nation’s lead service lines, including in disadvantaged communities that need it most
- Reduce supply chain bottlenecks to help ease inflation and lower the costs of goods and services
- Build a national network for electric vehicle charging stations
- Manufacture solar panels, wind farms, batteries, and electric vehicles to help address climate change
- Make high-speed internet affordable and accessible
Following is a statement by Michelle Holder, president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth:
I commend President Biden and Congress for today enacting the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, completing this important part of the Build Back Better agenda. Our nation is in desperate need of more public investment that can spur strong, stable, and broadly shared growth. The IIJA begins to fill that need by making historic improvements to the country’s transportation, energy, broadband, and water infrastructure, all with an eye toward creating good-paying jobs and ensuring historically marginalized groups gain access to opportunity-enhancing public goods.
However, these investments alone are not enough to meet our country’s full economic potential and ensure all in America can fully participate in our economy. For that, families need access to affordable child and elder care, workers need living wages and access to paid leave, including paid family leave, and children must not grow up in poverty or be left to face a disastrous climate crisis. That is why I am urging Congress to swiftly pass the Build Back Better Act, which includes public investments in social infrastructure and climate change mitigation. In order to achieve sustainable and equitable growth for all in this country, we need significant investments in both physical and social infrastructure. Failing to pass the Build Back Better Act would be a costly missed opportunity for the nation.
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The Washington Center for Equitable Growth is a nonprofit research and grantmaking organization dedicated to advancing evidence-backed ideas and policies that promote strong, stable, and broad-based economic growth. For more information, see www.equitablegrowth.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook @equitablegrowth.
