What They Are Reading in the States: Biden-Harris Officials, Local Leaders Highlight Nationwide Impact of the Build Back Better Framework & the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

This week, Biden-Harris cabinet members and local elected officials touted the nationwide impact of President Biden's Build Back Better Framework and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in a series of local media interviews and statewide press calls.

Mayors of cities across Michigan and Minnesota held statewide press calls that highlighted the local impacts of the Build Back Better Framework and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on working families in their communities. Local elected officials also issued strong statements of support for the legislation.

In a series of local press interviews, Biden-Harris cabinet members also touted how the Build Back Better framework will lower the costs of things families depend on, help people get back to work, and grow the economy.

See below for excerpts of their local coverage and their full statements:

Michigan

Detroit News: Michigan mayors urge Congress to pass infrastructure bill
[Riley Beggin, 11/3/21]

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor and Ypsilanti Mayor Lois Allen-Richardson urged Congress Wednesday to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, even as Democrats continue to disagree over the details of a larger social safety net package. […]

[Mayor Schor] added that he believes both packages are important for the country.

[…]

"I totally agree with Mayor Schor," said Allen-Richardson. "We need it done now, and however it can be done we need to get it done, and done quickly. Infrastructure is so important."

Duggan suggested the same: "It's time for Congress to just pass an infrastructure bill," he said, noting that multiple presidents of both parties have tried for years to pass a major investment in physical infrastructure.

[…]

The bipartisan infrastructure package would allot Michigan $7.3 billion for highways, $563 million for bridges, and $1 billion for public transit, according to White House estimates. It would also include $1 billion for the federal Great Lakes cleanup program, $7.5 billion nationally for a program to support building out an electric vehicle charging network, and $10 billion nationally to help cleanup certain toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals.

[…]

Detroit Free Press: Education chief: Free community college plans aren't dead, at least as long as I'm around
[By David Jesse, 11/5/21]
[…]
[Education Secretary Miguel Cardona] highlighted a $550 increase to the maximum Pell Grant [in the Build Back Better Framework], which would raise the total students are eligible for to over $7,000 per year. That would allow the grant to cover the cost of a year's tuition at most community colleges. Pell Grants are awarded based on income and don't have to be repaid, unlike federal student loans. There are more than 140,000 students in Michigan who use Pell Grants, according to a fact sheet from the education department.
The bill also contains other grants for community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities to help improve training.
The proposal's focus on improving education and work opportunities isn't just limited to spending on college. There are also key provisions to help with childcare costs, Cardona said.
"We want to help develop opportunities for families," he said. [….]

Press Release: Congress Urgently Needs to Act On the Infrastructure and Reconciliation Bills to Safeguard Water Equity
[Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, 11/3/21]

[…]

"These two pieces of legislation represent the most significant long-term investments in our nation's competitiveness in nearly a century," said Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot of Chicago. "Our cities have been waiting for these investments for too long."

"Congress has a chance to create millions of good-paying union jobs, grow our economy, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind," said Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee. "We must advance equity, fight the climate crisis, and position the United States to compete globally and win in the 21st century."

"Our citizens depend on the Great Lakes that represent close to 80% of our continent's fresh surface water," said Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit. "Passage of these bills is imperative to the environmental and economic health of our region." […]

Press Release: The Michigan Municipal League and The Michigan Association of Mayors Support the Effort to Address Nation's Infrastructure Needs and Lead Pipe Elimination
[11/1/21]

"For Michigan, and our nation, to be competitive we must invest in quality roads, bridges, water systems, and equitable access to transit. We also need to prepare for the future by investing in broadband, electric vehicle infrastructure, and cybersecurity. Unfortunately, Michigan has suffered the consequences of disinvestment in infrastructure. From Flint to Benton Harbor to Hamtramck to small towns across our great state, our communities have been the poster child for the case to eliminate lead services lines. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is our opportunity to make this happen and we call on Congress to act immediately and vote for its passage. With resources from American Rescue Plan, combined with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and strong partnerships at the federal, state, and local levels, we can eliminate lead service lines in every corner of Michigan."

Pauline Repp
Mayor of Port Huron
President, Michigan Association of Mayors

Monica Galloway
Councilmember, City of Flint
President, Michigan Municipal League

Minnesota

KTTC: Mayor Norton expresses support of Biden's Build Back Better Bill
[KaMaria Braye, 11/4/21]

On Thursday, Rochester Mayor Kim Norton along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter met on a conference call with the White House Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Bharat Ramamurti to show support for President Biden's Build Back Better Act.

The framework includes specific plans that the Biden administration says is to save families the cost of childcare.

• "The framework will save most American families more than half of their spending on child care, deliver two years of free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in America, give more than 35 million families a major tax cut by extending the expanded Child Tax Credit, and expand access to high-quality home care for older Americans and people with disabilities."

• "The framework will cut greenhouse gas pollution by well over one gigaton in 2030, reduce consumer energy costs, give our kids cleaner air and water, create hundreds of thousands of high-quality jobs, and advance environmental justice by investing in a 21st century clean energy economy – from buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, and agriculture to climate smart practices across our lands and waters. To give millions of Americans a major tax cut."

• "The framework will reduce premiums for more than 9 million Americans by extending the expanded Premium Tax Credit, deliver health care coverage to up to 4 million uninsured people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid, and help older Americans access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare."

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton is in complete support of this bill and says federal funding can help Rochester families and the infrastructure. Especially when it comes to affordable housing.

"Rochester and every major city that I know and even some not-so-major cities are struggling with having affordable housing," Norton said. "The idea that there will be down payment assistance more available to families particularly for first-generation home buyers is key," Norton said.

[….]

KIMT: Mayor Norton Joins White House, Twin Cities Leaders in Backing Biden's Build Back Better Framework
[Anthony Monzon, 11/4/21]

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Med City Mayor Kim Norton joined the White House and leaders from the Twin Cities Wednesday, highlighting how President Biden's Build Back Better framework could help the North Star State.

[…]

"The President's Build Back Better and infrastructure bills are what this country needs, what families and cities desperately need," Mayor Norton said during the joint briefing.

Highlights of the hefty BBB package include free pre-school for more than six million children over the next six years, an extension of the Child Tax Credit, and reductions in Affordable Care Act premiums.

"There are so many working families who are just waiting for this type of help and relief, and this framework is going to give nearly 90% of American children's families this type of support," said Norton. "It's a historic tax credit. It'll cover the cost of food and housing, health care and transportation, and we'll continue the largest one-year reduction in child poverty in history."

For Rochester's local leaders, President Biden's sweeping plan presents a critical chance to make headway on a number of fronts. One of them - addressing a desperate need for affordable housing, with experts projecting over 18,000 new units will have to be built in the Med City by 2030 in order to keep up with demand.

[…]

The BBB's over $550 million commitment to combatting climate change is pivotal, Mayor Norton believes, to Rochester meeting its promise of a complete transition to renewable energy by 2030.

[…]

Minnesota News Network: Democratic Minnesota Mayors Tout 'Build Back Better Plan'
[11/4/21]

The mayors of Minnesota's three largest cities are touting President Biden's "Build Back Better" plan. Rochester Mayor Kim Norton says the package includes an important tax cut for working families, "providing 35 million households up to 36-hundred dollars, or 300 dollars per month, in tax cuts per child."
[….]

Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter calls it "the most significant long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century."

Wisconsin

Press Release: League of Wisconsin Municipalities President Manitowoc Mayor Nickels Urges Congress to Support Bipartisan Efforts for Much Needed Infrastructure Investment
[11/5/21]

The League of Wisconsin Municipalities urges our congressional delegation to support the bipartisan efforts to provide much-needed investments in our nation's infrastructure.

"We can no longer band-aid together the fixes to our roads, bridges, transit, water and wastewater systems. This infrastructure is vital to our quality of life and critical to our economic development efforts," Mayor Nickels stated.

The annual American Society of Civil Engineers Wisconsin 2020 Infrastructure Report Card gave Wisconsin a C overall, but drinking water and wastewater rated only a C- and roads and transit received a D+. That's unacceptable.

As stated by the American Society of Civil Engineers in their analysis, "(p)ositive economic growth hinges on the availability and capacity of underlying systems that must support it, namely our infrastructure. Clean water (surface and drinking water), roads, bridges, transit systems, airports, water and sewer systems, dams, ports, and energy systems are categories of infrastructure that directly affect our ability to live, work, play and produce economic expansion and development. Infrastructure provides the foundation of our state's economy and is integral to preserving our high quality of life.

Much of Wisconsin's infrastructure requires capacity or maintenance upgrades or is reaching the end of its expected lifespan. You will see this reflected in Wisconsin's grades. The energy grid, transportation systems, sewers and drinking water systems of decades ago need upgrading to better prepare for security threats, larger storm events, increased use of renewable fuels and a changing population."