Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty
DETROIT, November 17, 2021 ~ Wednesday, President Joe Biden visited Michigan for the sixth time since his tenure began, checking in on General Motors’ Factory ZERO electric vehicle plant, and explaining how Michigan will benefit from the recently-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
“I think it’s the President coming to try and tout many of the things that are in this bill that he just signed,” said Oakland University Political Science Professor Dave Dulio to 760 WJR’s Kevin Dietz. “But if he is still touting what is in the bill that is in the rearview mirror, he’s still trying to convince people that it’s a good thing. He’s still trying to highlight some of these elements, and I think he is also looking toward maybe trying to build some momentum for the next piece of legislation that Congress is going to take up, the Build Back Better bill that we have been talking about for seemingly months now.”
November 17, 2021 ~ Dave Dulio talks with Kevin Dietz about President Biden‘s visit to Detroit today.
The infrastructure bill will send billions of dollars to Michigan, including $7.3 billion for roads, $563 million for bridges, $1.3 billion for underground infrastructure — which much of will go to Flint and Benton Harbor to supply clean water —, and $1 billion for public transportation.
“We’ll once again have the best roads, bridges, ports, and airports over the next decade and we will lead the world into the 21st century with modern cars and trucks and transit systems and we are going to do this by building again and moving again,” said President Biden after signing the legislation.
The legislation also includes $7.7 billion to install nearly 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the nation, $110 million of which will be used in Michigan, and $304 million to adapt and mitigate the state’s effects of climate change.
Despite the widespread support for the infrastructure spending plan, some GOP members are still against the bill. However, Dave Dulio believes they are holding their arguments for when the Build Back Better budget is revealed.
“The public is generally supportive of elements of the Build Back Better plan at a high level, in a generic way,” said Dulio. “But when they start to hear details of what is exactly in the bill, what the cost is going to be, how that ties into record inflation, … I think support of that is going to be pulled back.”
