President Biden Expected To Reveal Details Of ‘Build Back Better’ Infrastructure Plan

Later this week, President Biden is set to unveil the first part of his ambitious Build Back Better plan, an infrastructure package with an expected price tag of $3 trillion, which is already getting pushback from Republicans in Congress.

The plan is intended to compliment the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed by Congress earlier this month to directly address the pandemic and its impacts.

The president has been saying for months that just as important as rescuing the country from the pandemic, is helping the country recover from it with a major investment in job-creating infrastructure projects.

A 2019 report by the World Economic Forum ranked the U.S. 13th in overall infrastructure quality.

"We shouldn't be 13th in the world," said Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary. "I don't think anyone believes that the wealthiest, most innovative country in the world."

While details of the proposal remain under wraps, administration officials confirmed this past weekend that the Build Back Better package will be presented in two bills, the first one focused largely on transportation and other infrastructure. President Biden and Democratic leadership see the measure as an avenue to addressing climate change, which is a major concern for most Republicans.

"A transportation bill needs to be a transportation bill, not the Green New Deal. This needs to be about roads and bridges," said Rep. Sam Graves, (R) MO-6.

The Biden administration announced Monday significant incentives to boost the nation's offshore wind industry with a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind in the U.S. by 2030.

"Meeting this target will trigger more than $12 billion per year in capital investment in projects on both us coasts," said Psaki, "[and] create tens of thousands of good paying union jobs."

More wind, more solar, and more nuclear all look to be in the mix as part of the administration's longer-term goal of a net-zero economy by 2050.

Members of Oklahoma's delegation question whether that's even possible

"How many nuclear facilities would we have to build to be able to get to that point by 2050?" asked Sen. James Lankford, (R) Oklahoma, during a hearing last week, "Does anyone have a good number for that?"

We're expected to learn more when the President visits Pittsburgh on Wednesday.