The Town Crier - Legislative Backgrounder

The White House released specifics of the $2 trillion American Jobs Plan legislative proposal that focuses on roads and bridges; public transportation; resilient infrastructure; drinking water; housing; broadband; caregiving; manufacturing; home energy; clean energy jobs; and veterans’ healthcare. A state-by-state Fact Sheet was released today and shows the current state of New Jersey’s infrastructure.

Additional details on the American Jobs Plan include a summary of some of the top transportation elements and bolded are *new* programs that seem intended for municipalities:

• $50B "Fix It Right" road modernization
• $55B in Transit State of Good Repair $25B Transit Expansion
• $40B Bridges ( likely split between states/locals)
• $25B Zero emissions transit vehicles
• $25B Transformational Infrastructure Projects Fund
• $20B Intercity passenger rail
• $15B Highways to Neighborhoods Program
• $10B Safe Streets for All Fund
• $5B Community Transportation Block Grant
• $5B TAP $5B CMAQ plus ups above today's programs
• $5 PROTECT grant program
• $3 National Resilient Communities Challenge

Additionally, here are some reported details on certain programs include in the American Jobs Plan:

• Electrification: Most of the money to encourage a transition to electric vehicles - $100 billion of the $174 billion total - would go to consumer rebates for EVs, with $15 billion going to build chargers. President Joe Biden has said he wants to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations, which at this level of funding would work out to $30,000 per charger. Fast chargers - the kind that can charge a car in less than half an hour on the side of the road rather than overnight at home - cost approximately $500,000. The administration plan does include an addition $4 billion for that infrastructure rebate and another $10 billion on medium- and heavy-duty EV "incentives."

• The rest of the money for EVs would go to zero-emission transit vehicles ($25 billion) and school bus electrification ($20 billion).

• Discretionary grants: The BUILD and INFRA grant programs would get a significant boost - $5 billion and $3 billion respectively.

• ARPA-I: There's also a $2 billion line item for "ARPA-I and other basic research" in a $44 billion pot of money titled "Advancing Transformative Projects," hinting at an advanced research project agency for infrastructure, presumably modeled on the ARPA-E program for energy.

• Roads, bridges and transit: Of the $115 billion for roads and bridges, $50 billion would go to what the administration is calling "'fix it right' road modernization" - defined by the administration as building "with safety, resilience and all users in mind." Another $40 billion would go to bridge investments, which the administration has said would include repairs on the 10 most economically significant bridges in the country in need of maintenance - a nod to the Gateway bridges connecting New York and New Jersey.

• Almost two-thirds of the transit money would go to state of good repair as well, with another $25 billion slated for expansion and $5 billion to make transit systems more accessible to people with disabilities.

• Rail: About half of the $80 billion for rail would be slated for Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, with $16 billion going to the national network and another $20 billion for "intercity passenger rail." The administration has said that it wants at least some of that overall pot to go to establishing new city pairs.

• Aviation: The proposal's $25 billion for aviation would be split into $10 billion for the Airport Improvement Program, $10 billion in grants to improve airport terminals and $5 billion for FAA airspace facilities.

• Equity: The proposal's $25 billion for equity programs, entitled "Restore and Reconnect Thriving Communities," includes $10 billion for "Highways to Neighborhoods," $5 billion for a "Thriving Communities Initiative," $3 billion for "Tribal Transportation Programs," and $2 billion for "Transportation workforce training and upskilling."

This proposal will change as it moves through Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that she would like the House to complete work on this proposal by July and the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not specified a completion date. Please view the League’s Federal Page  for updates as they are available.  

Contact: Paul Penna, Legislative Analyst, ppenna@njlm.org or 609-695-3481 ext. 110