ICYMI: Suozzi Pens NY Daily News Op-Ed – “Pass both Biden bills now: New York needs the infrastructure bill and the rest of the Build Back Better agenda”

Huntington, New York- Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island, Queens), in response to the ongoing stalemate in Washington regarding the President's economic agenda, wrote an Op-Ed in today's New York Daily News entitled, "Pass both Biden bills now: New York needs the infrastructure bill and the rest of the Build Back Better agenda."

Pass both Biden bills now: New York needs the infrastructure bill and the rest of the Build Back Better agenda

By TOM SUOZZI

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS | OCT 19, 2021

President Biden noted the other day that Russia and China are boasting that they do not think democracy can survive in the current world of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. They don't think we can do big things anymore. They think we are too divided. The two major pieces of legislation that make up the Build Back Better agenda would not only dramatically help New Yorkers, but passage would also prove our foreign adversaries wrong.

New York needs both pieces of legislation to pass, and we should start planning for passage. One is ready to go now, and the other must get hammered out as soon as possible.

The first is the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal, which I helped negotiate back in April. In August, it passed the Senate with support from every Democrat and 19 Republicans. Both Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell voted yes. This traditional infrastructure bill will repair roads and bridges, sewer and water systems, mass transit, airports and cargo ports, and expand broadband and electric vehicle charging stations.

Everyone agrees New York's potholes are beating up our vehicles; it costs the average New Yorker hundreds of dollars every year. We all know we must upgrade our septic and water systems. Yet while our country struggles to provide basic maintenance of our infrastructure, countries like China have been investing in high-speed trains and other modern infrastructure systems for decades. We must make this historic investment now or risk getting left behind.

Under the package, New York would receive $13 billion in funding for roads and bridges, $24 billion for the MTA, including the LIRR and New York City's subways, over $1.4 billion for water and sewer system upgrades, and almost a billion more for much-needed airport upgrades and climate resiliency. I have spent years fighting for this level of funding for these types of projects, and New York needs a vision for how this money will be used most effectively.

We should not let this solid legislation, which will create high-paying jobs, improve our economy and enhance our quality of life, wait for negotiations between progressives and moderates on the second piece of legislation to wrap up. People want and need results. Let's get it done.

The second piece of legislation, the President's Build Back Better legislation, must also pass as soon as progressives and moderates can find common ground. The president says the original price tag of $3.5 trillion will come down to about $2 trillion. This is because of oft-reported demands of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, as well as many House members. Let's not lose sight of why we must pass this bill and all it will do for us here in New York.

We must take bold action to finally address climate change, lift children out of poverty with the enhanced Child Tax Credit, and for the sake of every New Yorker, we must reinstate the full State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT). Restoring SALT is my number one priority and if enacted; it will bring $12 billion back to New York taxpayers every single year. People are leaving New York. We must make our state successful again, and reinstating the SALT deduction is the first step.

Today's division in Washington is hurting us. The battles waged on Twitter trickle down to the House floor and hold up important pieces of legislation that we all agree will help people. We cannot allow the current polarization playing out in cable news every night to stop us.

The sooner we pass an infrastructure package in the House of Representatives, the sooner we get shovels in the ground. This is real-life stuff for real New York families. It will expand opportunities for everyone and put to work the very people who suffered the most during the pandemic. We must also ensure that the money from this historic investment flows from our state, down to our local communities and benefits everyone, especially minority communities and minority owned businesses that are often left out. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, every dollar of public infrastructure investment produces $1.50 in economic activity. This is a win for job creation, it's a win for our infrastructure, and it's a win on real-life change.

We have the opportunity to deliver for the people of New York and America. We can deliver on the first part of that help (infrastructure), while we fight to deliver a reconciliation package that addresses SALT, and climate change, and further helps uplift millions of New York families.

Infrastructure is ready to go. Let's pass it now and then work to Build Back Better.

Suozzi represents part of Long Island and Northeast Queens in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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