Calling upon the United States Congress to support the Biden Administration's American Jobs Plan, a multi trillion-dollar plan to invest in American infrastructure and jobs over the next 8 years.

WHEREAS, On March 31, 2021, President Joe Biden unveiled the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan, which would invest in infrastructure and jobs over eight years. This plan will be paid for with what the administration calls a “Made in America Corporate Tax Reform Plan,” over the next decade and a half; and

WHEREAS, The United States of America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet America ranks 13th when it comes to the overall quality of our infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, Decades of disinvestment has led our roads, bridges, and water systems to begin to crumble. The American electric grid is vulnerable to catastrophic outages, and too many citizens lack access to affordable, high-speed Internet and to quality housing; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has some of the oldest infrastructure in the country, with much of Pennsylvania’s infrastructure serving well beyond its intended lifespan and has continued to deteriorate. Improvements to the existing infrastructure continue to be needed, as well as a need for new, clean, sustainable infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, The American Jobs Plan will invest in strengthening our infrastructure, while also creating the good-paying, union jobs for millions of Americans; and

WHEREAS, The plan proposes modernization of 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main-streets, and will also repair thousands of bridges. It will also replace thousands of buses and rail cars, repair hundreds of stations, renew airports, and expand transit and rail into new communities. The plan also proposes increased delivery of clean drinking water, a renewed electric grid, and high-speed broadband to all Americans; and

WHEREAS, The American Jobs Plan proposes an investment of $1.3 trillion on a combination of community and transportation infrastructure spending to build, repair, and upgrade highways; provide affordable housing; build new schools. It will also allocate $580 billion for research and development, workforce development, and manufacturing, and will include $400 billion to support home and community-based care for the elderly and disabled; and

WHEREAS, The plan also plans to prioritize addressing long-standing and persistent racial injustice related to past infrastructure plans. It will target 40 percent of the benefits of climate and clean infrastructure investments to disadvantaged communities; and

WHEREAS, The need for improvements and investments to American infrastructure has long since passed. Congress needs to support the American Jobs Plan, and move for the beginning of these investments in our Country; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby calls upon the United States Congress to support the Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan, a multi trillion-dollar plan to invest in American infrastructure and jobs over the next 8 years.

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