THE FRENZIED RACE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

As President Joe Biden prepares to unveil the American Families Plan, his companion to the American Jobs Act, there again will be much talk of infrastructure: What is infrastructure? Where should you put infrastructure? And how should you pay for infrastructure?

But to understand what’s happening on the issue there is another key question: What exactly is Congress doing? It goes well beyond the Biden plan. Democrats in the Capitol are pushing four separate, significant efforts to reshape American infrastructure.

For state and local governments it is a potentially once-in-a-hundred-years opportunity. But it is also a mad dash to understand and line-up for the potential money.

Here is our attempt to untangle and clearly look at what is on the table.

1. The American Rescue Plan

The $1.9 trillion COVID response package became law in March and contained $350 billion for state and local governments. That money can go to pandemic-related needs but the act also allows officials to spend the money on water, sewer or broadband infrastructure needs. States, counties and cities are waiting for final guidance from the Treasury Department on the exact rules, but the money is supposed to start arriving in the next two weeks. It is hard to overstate what a large infusion of cash this will be. 

2. The annual spending bill: Earmarks coming back

At the same time, Democrats in both chambers of Congress are relaunching what they call “community projects,” —  more commonly known as earmarks.  These are specific projects, often infrastructure, in a congressional district that receive particular funding in the annual appropriations bill. House Democrats have announced they want to spend about $15 billion on them this year. And they are attempting to overhaul how they work by limiting earmarks to projects that have demonstrated community support.  

The deadline for each House office to submit their “community project” requests to the Appropriations Committee is this Friday, leading to some frantic days for many House staffers. Chambers of Congress, local city and county councils and others are making last appeals and sorting out how to get in on this potential windfall.

3. Water, energy and highway bills

Those first two infrastructure channels — the Rescue Plan and earmarks — have picked up little  Republican support in Congress. But the third effort on infrastructure has an overwhelming bipartisan glow.

Committees in both chambers are working on major authorization bills for water, energy and highway projects. These bills approve a wide variety of infrastructure programs and often are passed every five years. Already the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously passed the water authorization bill and full Senate passage is expected soon. At the same time, the House Transportation Committee has launched the process for a surface transportation, or highway bill, expected in coming weeks. And here, too, members are being allowed to request earmarks “or congressionally designated” spending on specific transportation projects.

One important note about these bills: They are not expected to fund the projects they authorize, just greenlight them. Yes, classic Congress. But Democrats are hoping, and many are planning, to fold that spending into the annual appropriations bills.

That is not guaranteed. But this does give districts across the country a third significant chance to get infrastructure funds.

4. The American Jobs and American Family Plans

This brings us to President Biden’s muscular twin plans to reshape infrastructure, and some social structure, in the United States. 

Biden’s plans would redefine infrastructure from traditional highways and bridges to include broadband, electric vehicle charging stations and what some Democrats call “human infrastructure,” meaning child care and potentially health care.

How much is in the American Jobs Plan for traditional infrastructure? About $115 billion, which itself is not a small number. But it is dwarfed by the rest of the bill, which is estimated to be over $2 trillion.  

FIVE OVERLOOKED POLITICAL STORIES FROM THE PAST WEEK
By Lisa Desjardins

Hoping to add COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, Justice offers incentive to get shots. -  April 26. Facing plummeting vaccination rates and rising infection rates among youth, West Virginia’s governor is offering $100 savings bonds to younger people who get vaccinated. Why it matters: States are getting creative as the U.S. has reached another pivot point in the pandemic, having difficulty vaccinating more reluctant populations. -- Charleston Gazette-Mail

Giant U.S. landlords pursue eviction despite CDC ban. - April 23. A Reuters investigation found that large property companies have evicted tens of thousands of Americans despite the Centers for Disease Control’s temporary ban of the practice. Why it matters: The federal moratorium on evictions runs out June 30, but this story shows at least some landlords are already acting. This, as concern is quickly rising about millions of dollars in unpaid rent and a possible tidal wave of evictions after the eviction ban ends. -- Reuters

Where are the workers? Small businesses struggle to fill jobs. - April 21. Small businesses report having trouble finding workers, with demand for services increasing but many Americans hesitant to start new jobs, especially in lower-paying industries. Why it matters: The economy and lawmakers are seeing the next phase of economic challenge, sorting out how to increase the labor supply before the majority of the country has been vaccinated. -- Associated Press

NH Primary Source: Poll shows weak support for Biden, Trump 2024 candidacies within their own parties. - April 26. The Granite State Poll found that neither President Joe Biden nor former President Donald Trump has majority support for reelection in New Hampshire. And both have room to grow among voters in their own parties. Why it matters: New Hampshire is a swing state where most presidential incumbents do well. The lack of overwhelming enthusiasm for Biden or Trump raises a political question about the prospects of either man in 2024. -- WMUR

China and Russia turn deeper ties into a military challenge for Biden. - April 20. Biden aides are increasingly concerned about strategic cooperation between Russia and China on the military, technology and diplomacy. Why it matters: The Biden administration is still determining its approach to China and Russia, as both continue to push for global influence following Trump’s years of confrontation with China and admiration of Russia.  -- Foreign Policy


#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Kate Grumke, @KGrumke
Politics producer

This week, President Biden will give his first joint address to Congress. Presidents used to call this an “annual address,” until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who popularized the term “State of the Union.” But more recent precedent has held that a president’s first joint address to Congress, usually given the month following Inauguration, is not called a “State of the Union.” 

Our question: Which president started the tradition of not calling the first joint address a “State of the Union” address?

Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Which president signed the Ku Klux Klan Act? 

The answer: Ulysses S. Grant

Grant signed the act in April of 1871. In October of that year, he used the powers of the act in several South Carolina counties.

Congratulations to our winners: Robert Schmid and Richard Morris!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.