The infrastructure package announced by President Joe Biden is receiving significant support from the agricultural industry. A total of $2.25 trillion will be invested over eight years through the American Jobs Plan. Amendments to the corporate tax code would be made to help offset the overall cost of the plan. The Made in America Tax Plan would reportedly raise more than $2 trillion over the course of 15 years. So far, the plan has received significant praise from the ag community due to critical investments in rural areas.
“Decades of neglect have rendered our federal water projects unable to meet the human and environmental needs of the West,” Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia said in a press release. “While highways and bridges are front and center in the administration’s proposal, federal investments in water storage and conveyance present an opportunity to strengthen our farming and rural communities while providing good-paying jobs and an economic boon for the construction industry.”
Other supporters of the plan include Farmers for Free Trade, the California Farm Bureau Federation, Rural Voices USA, and the National Water Resources Association. The infrastructure package includes several provisions important to agriculture and rural America. Along with investments in transportation infrastructure, the plan includes funding for agricultural research management and further development of climate-smart technologies. The American Jobs Plan also seeks to provide 100 percent broadband coverage to rural areas and make improvements to water infrastructure. Research and development funding would be directed towards land grant universities to provide U.S. farmers new economic opportunities.
“It is really encouraging to see these issues and others included in President Biden’s American Jobs Plan,” National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said in a news release. “We sincerely hope that this will set the stage for comprehensive improvements that strengthen rural communities, build resilience to climate change, and hasten economic recovery. In the coming weeks and months, we look forward to reviewing the plan and subsequent legislation in greater detail, including the pay-for provisions.”
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