Maine leaders weigh in on potential impact of $2.3T Biden infrastructure plan for state
Maine leaders are weighing in on the potential impact of President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan on the state.
The president met with members of Congress at the White House on Monday to discuss the plan. None of Maine’s delegation was invited.
Biden’s plan starts with $115 billion nationwide to fix roads and bridges. It is unclear how much Maine would get.
One bridge in need of replacement is the 90-year-old Frank Wood Bridge, which connects Brunswick and Topsham. The price tag to replace it is $22 million.
Fifty-eight percent of Maine’s bridges are at least 50 years old.
"The Biden infrastructure plan would greatly benefit Maine. We have hundreds of millions of dollars in need in fixing old roads and bridges,” Gov. Janet Mills said.
The American Society of Civil Engineers rated 315, or 13% of Maine bridges, structurally deficient. The group gave Maine a C- for bridges and a D for roads.
The president’s plan goes beyond transportation. It said Maine’s drinking water systems need $1 billion in repairs.
"Some of the upgrades we need to do because of sea-level rise, which are critically important to Maine, a lot of the wastewater systems,” Rep Chellie Pingree said.
The plan allocates $100 billion nationwide to expand high-speed internet. Fifteen percent of Maine homes are not connected to broadband.
"I basically told the leadership if it doesn't have broadband in it, forget about me. (11:24:28) Everybody's for infrastructure; nobody's for paying for it,” Sen Angus King said.
Republicans think the bill is too expensive, questioning items such as incentives for buying electric cars.
"That amounts to $174 billion. That is more than the package would propose to spend on roads, bridges waterways, seaports, and airports added together,” Sen. Susan Collins said.
Maine Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dana Connors bristles at the president’s plan to pay for it by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% by reversing a tax cut pushed through by former President Donald Trump.
"And the question becomes one of from 21% to 28%, that's a big leap, even though it was higher than that before 2017,” Connors said.
The Maine Department of Transportation estimates its budget is $230 million short of the state’s needs this year, even after voters approved a $100 million transportation bond, as they’ve done five years in a row.