Infrastructure push: White House breaks down needs by state

The Biden White House is amplifying the push for its $2.3 trillion United States infrastructure package with the release of state-by-state breakdowns that show the dire shape of roads, bridges, the power grid and housing affordability.

The figures in the state summaries, obtained by The Associated Press, paint a decidedly bleak outlook for the world’s largest economy after years of repairs being deferred and delayed. They suggest that too much infrastructure is unsafe for vehicles at any speed, while highlighting the costs of extreme weather events that have become more frequent with climate change as well as dead spots for broadband and a dearth of childcare options.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet on Monday afternoon with Republican and Democratic lawmakers and can use the state summaries to show that his plan would help meet the needs of their constituents.

Drawn from an array of private and public data, the reports show there are 11,750km (7,300 miles) of highway in Michigan alone that are in poor condition. Damaged streets in North Carolina impose an average yearly cost of $500 on motorists. Iowa has 4,571 bridges in need of repair. There is a roughly 4-in-10 chance that a public transit vehicle in Indiana might be ready for the scrapyard, while Pennsylvania’s schools are short $1.4bn for maintenance and upgrades.

Most states received a letter grade on their infrastructure. West Virginia earned a D. So did Biden’s home state of Delaware. The highest grade went to Utah, which notched a C-plus. The lowest grade, D-minus, went to the territory of Puerto Rico.

The administration is banking that the data will confirm the everyday experiences of Americans as they bump over potholes, get trapped in traffic jams and wait for buses that rarely correspond to published schedules. There is already a receptive audience for the sales pitch, and the strategy is that public support can overcome any congressional misgivings.

“We don’t have a lot of work to do to persuade the American people that US infrastructure needs major improvement,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on Fox News Channel’s programme Fox News Sunday ahead of the reports’ release. “The American people already know it.”

Republican lawmakers have been quick to reject the infrastructure proposal from Biden. They say just a fraction of the spending goes to traditional infrastructure, as $400bn would expand Medicaid support for caregivers and substantial portions would fund electric vehicle charging stations and address the racial injustice of highways that were built in ways that destroyed Black neighbourhoods.

The reports give some data to back up the argument that more money should be spent on roads and bridges. Biden’s plan would modernise 32,187km (20,000 miles) worth of roadways, but California by itself has 22,885km (14,220 miles) of highway in poor condition.

Republican lawmakers also object to funding the package by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent and increasing the global minimum tax, among other tax changes including stepped-up Internal Revenue Service enforcement being proposed by the Biden administration.

“This is a massive social welfare spending programme combined with a massive tax increase on small-business job creators,” Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, said Sunday on ABC’s programme This Week. “I can’t think of a worse thing to do.”

Yet the state-by-state reports make clear that many of the people Wicker represents could benefit from the package, an aspect of the Biden effort to engender the backing of voters across party lines.

Wicker was among four Republicans on the White House guest list for Biden’s Monday meeting, along with Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Representatives Garret Graves of Louisiana and Don Young of Alaska. Democrats on the list were Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Alex Padilla of California and Representatives Donald Payne Jr of New Jersey and David Price of North Carolina.

Mississippi needs $4.8bn for drinking water and $289m for schools. Nearly a quarter of households lack an internet subscription, and a similar percentage lives in areas without broadband. Mississippians who use public transportation have to devote an extra 87.7 percent of their time to commuting.

Mississippi’s infrastructure received a grade of D-plus.