'We can't delay': Biden proposes $2 trillion infrastructure, jobs plan funded by corporate tax hike - USA TODAY

'We can't delay': Biden proposes $2 trillion infrastructure, jobs plan funded by corporate tax hike - USA TODAY
The history behind International Transgender Day of Visibility - USA TODAY
Report: Johnson & Johnson loses 15M vaccine doses in manufacturing mix-up; Wisconsin court throws out mask mandate: Latest COVID-19 updates - USA TODAY

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 03:26 PM PDT

The White House is comparing President Joe Biden's infrastructure proposal to the construction of interstate highways and the Space Race. USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion plan Wednesday to rebuild the nation's aging infrastructure, support electric vehicles and clean energy and boost access to caregivers and their pay in a massive undertaking that would be the centerpiece of his economic agenda.

Biden billed the sweeping jobs proposal, dubbed the American Jobs Plan, as a domestic investment not seen in the USA since the construction of the interstate highways in the 1950s and the space race a decade later.

The plan seeks to reshape an American economy struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, while positioning the United States to fight climate change and out-compete China in manufacturing. It would pump billions into rebuilding roads, bridges and rail with a dual goal of creating millions of "good-paying union jobs."

Biden wants to raise taxes on corporations to pay for the eight-year spending package. He proposed increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% – resetting to the level before passage of President Donald Trump's tax cuts in 2017 – and overhauling how the United States taxes multinational corporations by increasing the minimum tax on U.S. corporations to 21%.

Republicans tee up attacks: Even before Biden unveils his infrastructure plan, GOP pans it as going too far

The president detailed the plan Wednesday afternoon in a speech at a carpenters training center in Pittsburgh, calling it a "once-in a generation investment" that rewards "work, not just wealth." He said the plan would be the country's largest jobs program since World War II and make the country more competitive globally.

"It's big – yes. It's bold – yes. And we can get it done," he said.

It's the first piece of Biden's larger "Build Back Better" agenda. A separate proposal addressing health care, education and child care is expected in April. The package continues a shift in U.S. policy under the Biden administration to expand the role of the federal government to meet the nation's challenges.

"Put simply, these are investments we have to make," he said. "Put another way, we can't afford not to."

Biden faces a giant test politically to find Republican support in Congress for his legislative package, though infrastructure generally has widespread bipartisan support. Republicans have balked at the suggestion of tax hikes and warned they would oppose a package that strays from core transportation infrastructure and tackles climate change and "social justice."

"This apparently is not going to be an infrastructure package," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who spoke to Biden Tuesday, said shortly after its release. The Republican called it a "Trojan horse" for borrowed money, debt and tax increases on "the most productive parts of our economy."

$621 billion for roads, bridges, rail, Amtrak and electric vehicles

The American Jobs Plan would allocate $621 billion to transportation infrastructure and resilience, including the repair and construction of roads, bridges, transit and rail service.

That includes $115 billion to modernize 20,000 miles of roads, fixing the 10 most "economically significant" bridges in the USA and repairing 10,000 smaller bridges in poor condition.

A gas tax? A mileage tax?Biden wary of user fees to pay for roads, bridges and highways

Federal funds for transit projects – improvements and expansion – would double under the plan to $85 billion. The plan would provide $80 billion to Amtrak to cover the rail service's backlog of repairs, $25 billion would go toward updating airports and $17 billion for sea ports.

"We can't delay," Biden said. "We can't delay another minute. It's long past due."

Racial equity and rural infrastructure are major themes throughout the package, which would set aside $20 billion to reconnect neighborhoods historically cut off by investments. The plan proposes $50 billion to create "resilient infrastructure" that can withstand weather-related events.

Biden wants to direct $174 billion to electric vehicles: the construction of a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle stations, replacing diesel vehicles, electrifying bus fleets and offering tax incentives and rebates to make electric cars more affordable.

Retrofitted homes, lead pipe replacement, 'universal' broadband

An additional $213 billion in the plan would go toward retrofitting and building more than 2 million affordable homes and commercial properties, and $111 billion would replace all the nation's lead pipes and service lines and upgrade drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems.

"So that every American, every child can turn on a faucet or fountain and drink clean water," Biden said.

The plan would provide $100 billion to upgrade and construct public schools; $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach all Americans; and $100 billion to upgrade the nation's electric grid and investment in clean electricity.

The plan sets aside $10 billion to modernize federal buildings, $12 billion for community college infrastructure, $18 billion to modernize Veterans Affairs hospitals and facilities and $25 billion to upgrade child care facilities.

Biden proposes a new national "energy efficiency and clean electricity standard" aimed at cutting the cost of electricity bills and electricity pollution. The plan would earmark $16 billion to plug orphan oil and gas wells, $10 billion to build a conservation workforce and $5 billion for the remediation of dormant industrial sites.

The 'caregiving economy,' climate research and manufacturing

In one of the plan's most expensive programs, Biden proposed $400 billion to expand access to affordable care for the elderly and disabled. This would involve aid to Americans to obtain services they need but lack, and expand the care workforce, including a pay boost for care workers. The majority are women of color and earn about $12 an hour.

Biden proposed expanding access to long-term care services under Medicaid and increasing pay through the same federal program.

"For too long, caregivers, who are disproportionately women, women of color and immigrants, have been unseen, underpaid and undervalued," Biden said.

More: Biden faces tough balancing act on infrastructure as pressure builds on immigration, gun control

Aiming to make the country more competitive against China and other nations, the plan would pump $180 billion into research and development in technology and climate science. This includes $50 billion for the National Science Foundation to invest in new technology, $40 billion to upgrade outdated research labs, $35 billion to build technology to address the climate crisis and $10 billion for research centers at historically Black colleges and universities.

"We've fallen back," Biden said of U.S. investment in research and science. "The rest of the world is closing in and closing in fast. We can't allow this to continue.

"Critics say we shouldn't spend this money. They ask, 'What do we get out of this?' Well, they said the same thing when we flew into space for the first time."

The plan calls for $300 billion in manufacturing spending. It's headlined by $50 billion for a new federal office to monitor domestic industrial capacity and the production of critical goods on the supply chain such as semiconductors, batteries and clean energy technologies.

Other manufacturing proposals include: $46 billion in federal purchasing power for clean energy manufacturing, so electric cars, electric charging ports, electric heat pumps and other clean materials are built in the USA; $30 billion for new jobs focused on the nation's preparedness for pandemics; and $20 billion to create 10 "regional innovation hubs" to spur technology development.

"I'm convinced that if we act now, that in 50 years, people will look back and say this was when America won the future," Biden said.

Fully paid for in 15 years, White House says

The tax overhaul, which the White House labeled the Made in America Tax Plan, seeks to incentivize job creation and investment in the USA, end profit-shifting to tax havens and ensure large corporations pay "their fair share."

The plan would eliminate a rule that allows U.S. companies to pay no taxes on the first 10% of returns when they locate investments in other countries.

Under the tax hikes and other changes – eliminating tax loopholes for intellectual property and denying companies deductions for offshoring jobs, for example – the White House projects the spending would be fully paid in 15 years and reduce deficits in the years after.

Biden said no Americans who earn less than $400,000 would pay more taxes under his proposal. He said it's not about targeting "those who made it" but opening up "opportunities for everybody else."

Business groups criticized the tax hikes. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded Biden for "making infrastructure a top priority" but said the tax increases "will slow the economic recovery and make the U.S. less competitive globally – the exact opposite of the goals of the infrastructure plan."

A large-scale infrastructure plan has been talked about by both parties for years but never executed. President Donald Trump promised an infrastructure package but did not deliver one.

"Everybody is for doing something on infrastructure. But why haven't we done it?" Biden said. "Nobody wants to pay for it."

More: Republicans tell Buttigieg that Biden's infrastructure bill should focus on roads, rail, ports – not climate or 'social justice'

White House says it's open to negotiations with Republicans

To build its case for trillions in spending, the White House said the USA ranks 13th globally in infrastructure quality, down from fifth in 2002, and lags rival superpower China in infrastructure spending. More than one-third of America's bridges need repairs, and one in every five highways are in poor condition.

The Americans Jobs Plan is Biden's second major policy proposal of his young presidency after he won approval for his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill this month. Not a single Republican voted for that bill, known as the American Rescue Plan.

Early public polling shows broad support for infrastructure spending, like it did for Biden's COVID-19 relief package. A Morning Consult/Politico poll this week found Americans, by 2 to 1 (54%-27%), support raising corporate taxes to support improvements to infrastructure.

Democrats could seek passage of the infrastructure legislation in the Senate through budget reconciliation – like they did Biden's COVID-19 relief bill – which would require just a simple majority in the evenly split chamber and no Republican votes.

The White House did not say how it plans to move the package through Congress and did not give a timeline on when it wants it passed.

"We'll have a good-faith negotiation with any Republican who wants to get this done," Biden said. "But we have to get it done."

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

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The history behind International Transgender Day of Visibility - USA TODAY

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 09:51 AM PDT

This story was published in partnership with The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy.

Rachel Crandall-Crocker, the creator of International Transgender Day of Visibility, wanted people to have a moment of happiness. So she made a Facebook post encouraging people to organize festivities in their hometowns and started messaging accounts from all over the world — it was worth a shot.

"I'd been wanting there to be a special day for us for a long time," she recalled. "And I was waiting and waiting for someone else to do it. And then finally I said, 'I'm not waiting anymore. I'm going to do it.'"

It was 2009, and at the time, the only annual event that most transgender communities had was nothing to celebrate. In 1998, Rita Hester, a Black transgender women in Boston, was brutally stabbed in her own apartment. Transgender women were tired of being targets and done being dismissed by the press, which misgendered Hester. They marched through Hester's neighborhood, and Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a day honoring transgender homicide victims, was born.

Crandall-Crocker sometimes attended the community funeral. She felt it was important. But when she did, it left her depressed for up to a week afterward.

"I wanted a day that we can celebrate the living, and I wanted a day that all over the world we could be all together," she said.

So Crandall-Crocker, who had lost a marriage when she came out and a job as a psychotherapist when she transitioned, decided to create the day herself. March 31 would be International Transgender Day of Visibility.

The date wasn't significant as much as it was convenient. It was far enough away from TDOR in November and Pride Month in June that it wouldn't conflict with either. From her home in Michigan, she organized a panel just outside of Detroit. Maybe people would come or see the Facebook post and hold their own events, she thought.

Crandall-Crocker now talks about those early days with near disbelief. Millions of people now recognize March 31 as a day to celebrate transgender people worldwide. Every major LGBTQ rights organization recognizes Transgender Day of Visibility with community gatherings, panels and celebrations. Skyscrapers across the nation light up with light pink, blue and white — transgender pride colors — on the day.

"Transgender Day of Visibility is a spark of hope," said Nia Clark, a Black trans woman. "It's just signaling to others that we are here and there are more than just one of you … that there are resources out there, that there are people in existence who also would just like you."

Clark, 37, works as a child welfare consultant and is a Point Foundation scholar, a prestigious LGBTQ college program. Because she works with kids, she was nervous to be out as a trans. But two years ago on Transgender Day of Visibility, she posted about her own journey coming out as trans on social media.

"I just remember the outpouring of support from others who I'd never really talked to," she said. "One thing about trans folks is sometimes we are so afraid to even talk about our gender identity with cisgender friends."

Work ahead: These transgender people transitioned during COVID and are bracing for a return to the office

Andrea Jenkins, vice president of the Minneapolis City Council and the first out Black trans elected official in the country, says those conversations about trans people living vibrant and full lives are critical, especially in this moment. Jenkins notes that 44 transgender people were murdered in 2020, the highest number ever recorded.

"We don't want to just wallow in this," Jenkins said. "We also want to acknowledge the reality that our lives are beautiful and matter. Then, the less people are able to say, 'Oh, I don't know a trans person or I don't think people need to recognize the humanity of trans and gender non-conforming people.'"

This year's Transgender Day of Visibility comes at a particularly trying moment for gender diverse people in the United States. More than 80 anti-trans bills are pending in state legislatures, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Most of those bills would limit trans youth from playing sports and accessing affirming medical care.

More: 'There's nothing to be fearful of': Parents and activists fight to keep transgender girls in school sports

For many trans kids, their first introduction to transgender community had long been a day honoring transgender murder victims. While it was a time of gathering, it was also a stark reminder that living as trans often came with an expiration date.

"TDOR is always far more emotionally significant, more poignant, because so many trans women, especially Black trans women, succumb to violence, knowing that the life expectancy of a Black trans woman is 35," Clark said.

But Transgender Day of Visibility gave kids another narrative to grow into, advocates say.

Esmée Silverman, 19, is a high school senior in southeastern Massachusetts, the same state where Hester's murder inspired Transgender Day of Remembrance. Still, she learned about Transgender Day of Visibility before she knew of the day's more somber cousin.

Silverman was 17 at the time, not fully out in her community, and her school's Gay Straight Alliance was celebrating the day.

"I sort of was just like, 'Wow, this is something that we need to uplift and celebrate more of because if there's a there is a day like this and if other trans people feel like the way I felt when I didn't have any support, then this day needs to be uplifted,'" Silverman said. "Everybody deserves to be visible, including trans people."

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Report: Johnson & Johnson loses 15M vaccine doses in manufacturing mix-up; Wisconsin court throws out mask mandate: Latest COVID-19 updates - USA TODAY

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 03:41 PM PDT

The former White House coronavirus response coordinator said later deaths could have been reduced with more social distancing and shutdowns. USA TODAY

About 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine have been lost after a mix-up at a Baltimore manufacturing plant, the New York Times reported Wednesday night.

The plant, run by Emergent BioSolutions, is tasked with manufacturing two COVID-19 vaccines, the Times reported. Workers at the plant conflated ingredients of the vaccines, ruining the doses, the newspaper reported.

The mix-up does not affect Johnson & Johnson doses currently being delivered and used nationwide, since those those were developed in the Netherlands, according to the Times.

Johnson & Johnson identified the spoiled batch of doses through its quality control process, the company said in a statement on its website. The site is "not yet authorized to manufacture drug substance for our COVID-19 vaccine," and added, "This batch was never advanced to the filling and finishing stages of our manufacturing process."

In its statement, Johnson & Johnson said it remained on track to deliver "an additional 24 million single-shot vaccine doses through April." The drugmaker didn't say how many doses were lost.

Also in the news:

► French President Emmanuel Macron announced a three-week nationwide school closure and a month-long domestic travel ban. In a televised address to the nation Wednesday night, Macron said efforts are needed as "the epidemic is accelerating."

►Chicago announced the opening of a new vaccination site for union workers eligible for the shot under current restrictions.

►The U.S. reported that half of all seniors have now been vaccinated. "Vaccination milestone," tweeted Andy Slavitt, White House senior COVID-19 adviser. "50% of all seniors have now been fully vaccinated."

►MGM Resorts International is bringing the coronavirus vaccine to employees at its casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

►A coronavirus variant first identified in Britain has been found on the Navajo Nation.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has over 30.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 551,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 128.6 million cases and 2.8 million deaths. More than 189.45 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 147.6 million have been administered, according to the CDC.

📘 What we're reading: Those who experimented with gender identity behind masks and screens during the pandemic may soon be returning to the workplace as the rollout of vaccines ramps up and businesses reopen. But will workplaces be ready to provide a tolerant, safe environment for employees who now identify differently? Read the full story.

USA TODAY is tracking COVID-19 news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Want more? Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Wisconsin Supreme Court throws out mask mandate

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers from issuing public health emergency orders to mandate face masks without the approval of the Republican-controlled state Legislature.

In a 4-3 decision, conservative justices in the majority also declared the current statewide mask mandate invalid and ruled Evers exceeded his authority in issuing multiple emergency declarations during the pandemic. Evers used the emergency orders to require face coverings be worn indoors statewide after lawmakers opted not to.

"The question in this case is not whether the governor acted wisely; it is whether he acted lawfully. We conclude he did not," said Justice Brian Hagedorn, writing for the conservative majority.

President Joe Biden this week urged governors to reimpose mask mandates as the U.S. once again faces increasing daily totals for infections and hospitalizations. On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, lifted the statewide mask mandate and Wyoming Gov. Gov. Mark Gordon said he won't reinstate a mask order lifted two weeks ago.

COVID-19 was third-highest cause of US deaths in 2020

COVID-19 accounted for about 11% of all American deaths last year – right behind heart disease and cancer – and the vast majority of patients who died of the virus already had health problems before they were infected, according to two government reports released Wednesday.

The reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on death certificate data, also illustrated the staggering impact COVID-19 had in 2020 on different racial groups.

Overall, American Indian and Alaska Native people were more likely to die than people of the same age from other racial and ethnic groups. Hispanics were second most likely to die of COVID-19, followed by Black people.

"Sadly, based on the current state of the pandemic, these impacts have remained in 2021, where we continue to see that communities of color account for an outsized portion of these deaths," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a Wednesday news briefing.

– Nada Hassanein

Every state now set to expand vaccine access by May 1

All 50 states have announced when they plan to open up coronavirus vaccinations to all adults by May 1, and the day arrived Wednesday for residents of Indiana and South Carolina. More than a dozen have already lifted restrictions. Montana and Connecticut join the growing list on Thursday, New Hampshire on Friday. Next week 11 more states, New York and Florida among them, join the group. President Joe Biden has urged states to open up vaccination opportunities to all states by May 1. All are scheduled to do so. But Biden's plea to keep mask mandates have not been as popular despite indications that new infections, hospitalizations and deaths nationwide are once again on the rise.

In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced during a news conference Tuesday that all Arkansans 16 and older were immediately eligible to receive the vaccine. Hutchinson, however, also lifted the statewide mask mandate.

London remembers victims with wall of 145,000 hearts

Relatives and friends of Britons who lost their lives to the coronavirus are drawing thousands of hearts on a wall opposite the Parliament in London as a memorial to the 145,000 victims.

"Each heart represents someone who was loved. Someone who was lost too soon to Covid-19," the organizers, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said on their crowdfunder page. "As bereaved family and friends this is how we choose to remember."

Each heart is being drawn by hand, and the National Covid #MemorialWall will have drawn more than 145,000 of them. The palm-size hearts will cover a a 6-foot-tall wall the length of more than five football fields. Hearts will continue to be added until the pandemic ends and the deaths stop, the group says.

Pfizer says its vaccine is safe for kids 12 to 15 years old

The COVID-19 vaccine from drug company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech vaccine is safe for and extremely effective in adolescents, according to a company-sponsored study released early Wednesday. In adolescents 12 to 15 years old, vaccination led to a higher protective antibody response than in adults and was seen to be 100% effective against symptomatic disease, the study of 2,260 adolescents found. The two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had been authorized for use in those 16 and up based on previous trials, but not in younger adolescents.

Last week, the companies began testing their vaccine in children ages 5 to 11; next week, they will begin testing in ages 2 to 5, and later will look at children 6 months to 2 years.

– Karen Weintraub

Without masks and a vaccine, we could reach Herd Immunity from COVID-19, but deaths would skyrocket. We break down the science of it. USA TODAY

US tops 12K known COVID variant cases

The United States has reported more known coronavirus variant cases in the last week – nearly 4,300 – than it reported through the middle of March, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. Tuesday night's tally reflected more than 1,000 new cases just since Sunday's report. The U.S. now has 12,053 known cases of variants that can spread COVID-19 more easily, dodge some treatments and immunities, or both.

California alone reported 289 new variant cases Tuesday, bringing it up to 865 known cases. Most of those are of B.1.1.7, a variant first detected in the United Kingdom. But California's P.1 case count also exploded, moving from seven known cases on Sunday to 33 known cases Tuesday. P.1 was first detected in Brazil. Massachusetts reported 266 new cases, bringing its total to 732.

Several states that hadn't had much of a known variant problem suddenly have much larger problems. West Virginia went from just three known variant cases on Sunday to 53 on Tuesday, while Nevada went from 11 cases on Sunday to 63 cases on Tuesday. Idaho jumped from 18 to 32.

Ohio reported its first two cases of the B.1.351 variant first detected in South Africa.

– Mike Stucka

Most Americans want vaccine or are already vaccinated

The majority of U.S. adults say that they've either being vaccinated for COVID-19 or intending to do so as soon as possible, and that number continues to rise. That's according to a new survey from nonpartisan health foundation Kaiser Family Foundation, which puts that number at 61% of respondents while the share that responded said they're taking a "wait and see" approach has shrunk to 17%.

The new developments come as average daily reported cases are up 10% compared to a week earlier, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. And as COVID-19 cases creep up again across the country, federal officials and epidemiologists say they're worried we could hit another tipping point, leading to a fourth significant surge of infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Read more here.

Nations challenge WHO report on coronavirus origins

The U.S. and a dozen other countries issued a rare joint statement on Tuesday questioning the validity of a World Health Organization study into the origins of the coronavirus, which was first detected in Wuhan, China, and has now killed 2.8 million people across the globe.

"We support a transparent and independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference and undue influence, of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, we join in expressing shared concerns regarding the recent WHO-convened study in China," reads the statement, which was issued by the U.S. State Department in coordination with a raft of other governments, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The statement included strong support for the WHO and did not directly blame China for interfering with the scientific probe. But it said health experts were delayed in studying the origins of the virus and that even when granted access, they were denied "complete, original data and samples."

"The mission of the WHO is critical to advancing global health and health security," the statement said. "Scientific missions like these should be able to do their work under conditions that produce independent and objective recommendations and findings."

The WHO's director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. has also highlighted China's lack of cooperation.

"I do not believe that this assessment was extensive enough," he said. "Further data and studies will be needed to reach more robust conclusions."

– Deirdre Shesgreen

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Contributing: The Associated Press

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