Update: American Jobs Plan Builds Opportunities for Construction Industry

As discussed in our prior alert, “Biden Administration Builds Opportunities for Construction Industry” (February 5, 2021), President Biden announced that the goal of the Build Back Better Plan is to boost the economy by producing millions of American jobs through the rebuilding and development of climate-friendly and/or high-tech infrastructure.  

The Build Back Better Plan is in addition to the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which became law on March 11, 2021. Our prior alert noted that the American Rescue Plan targeted COVID-19 issues by allocating funding to be used for several purposes, including construction (e.g., physical improvements to K-12 schools and emergency assistance to state, local, and territorial governments, some of the funding for which is permitted to be used for construction).

According to The White House Fact Sheet announcing the American Jobs Plan:

While the American Rescue Plan is changing the course of the pandemic and delivering relief for working families, this is no time to build back to the way things were. This is the moment to reimagine and rebuild a new economy. The American Jobs Plan is an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our country’s infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete China. Public domestic investment as a share of the economy has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s. The American Jobs Plan will invest in America in a way we have not invested since we built the interstate highways and won the Space Race.

The American Jobs Plan focuses largely on infrastructure and extends across several industries. Key components relating to the construction industry include the following, for which more than half of the $2.25 trillion plan is allocated:

• Repairing highways, roads, and bridges
• Modernizing public transit
• Investing in passenger (Amtrak) and freight rail service
• Improving airports, ports, and inland waterways
• Funding for public housing infrastructure and upgrading public schools
• Rebuilding a clean drinking water infrastructure
• Renewing the electric grid
• Expanding high-speed broadband access
• Paying for environmental cleanup projects
• Building facilities for electric vehicles

We are continuing to review the American Jobs Plan and will provide updates that are relevant to the construction industry.

For additional information regarding the American Jobs Plan, we invite you to read our Government Relations group’s Alert, “Analysis: President Biden Unveils American Jobs Plan” (March 31, 2021), which includes commentary from our colleagues, former Senator Byron Dorgan and former Representative Phil English.