This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider several key bills including the bi-partisan Infrastructure bill and the sweeping reconciliation proposal. Despite attempts from some Congressional Democrats to couple the votes on these two bills, House Leadership has indicated that the vote on the infrastructure bill will move forward as the safety net measure remains uncertain.

President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, the $3.5 trillion reconciliation proposal, is a massive social spending bill which would be paid for through harmful tax hikes that would undermine the nation’s economic recovery and jeopardize jobs. The proposed package would raise corporate taxes, pass-through business income, capital gains taxes, and individual personal tax rates. Paying for the proposed “human infrastructure” programs in the reconciliation package would put the majority of the weight on  businesses of all sizes and reduce incentives for them to invest in the economy. Recent scoring from the Tax Foundation showed that the increased tax rates would reduce economic output by nearly 1% and lead to the elimination of 303,000 jobs. As employers continue to struggle with supply chain interruptions, inflation, and crippling workforce shortages, the impacts of this legislation could be catastrophic

GLI joined with other Kentucky Chambers to advocate for the passage of the bi-partisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which will bring more than $6.5 billion in long-term funding to Kentucky for federal-aid highway programs, bridge replacement and repairs, public transportation, broadband coverage, and much more. The IIJA is a historic investment with bi-partisan support in Congress and widespread support among Americans.

Check out Shelby Williams Somervell’s recent op-ed on why the infrastructure bill is critical to Louisville’s economic growth.

GLI strongly urges lawmakers to consider these proposals separately and not to tie the fate of the uncontrolled spending in the Build Back Better Plan to the fiscally responsible IIJA. There are many moving parts this week and GLI Advocacy staff is closely following negotiations for these key issues. Stay tuned to Policy Distilled for more information.