President Joe Biden talks rural broadband in his “100 Day” address to Congress. This is a major blank of his infrastructure plan.
Biden underlined the need for modern infrastructure spending, including broadband, as part of his American Jobs proposal, calling it “the largest jobs plan, since World War II.”
According to the President, “It creates jobs connecting every American with high-speed internet, including 35 percent of rural America that still doesn’t have it. It’s going to help our kids and our businesses succeed in the 21st-century economy, and I’m asking the Vice President to lead this effort... because I know it will get done.”
Broadband advocates and economists have emphasized the need to get the most of the plan. They say that the administration should concentrate on more than just building access, saying “it’s not just the availability that makes a difference-- it’s the adoption.”
The President also unveiled a new $2 trillion dollar spending package called “The American Families Plan.”
With it, he would also roll out a new tax structure. It would change the way assets are taxed by narrowing the step up basis on inherited property.
As we have mentioned, this could affect family farms that are passed down.
Kansas Senator Roger Marshall says that there is a lot to be worried about if this passes Congress.
“If we lose stepped up basis, as that family passes on the farm or a business even... they’re going to have to sell about a third of it to pay for the taxes alone, and as you know in today’s farm economy you need quite a bit of property to be able to farm to make it worthwhile,” the Senator explained. “They’re very concerned about this and you know the death tax as well, lowering the limit from like $11.2 million dollars down to possibly $3 million dollars per person also has us fired up.”
Marshall said that he does not think that message is being heard in Washington because lawmakers are so heavily focused on environmental issues.
USDA says that the President’s plan will protect family farms.
Related:
Highlights from Biden’s joint Congress speech
Sen. Roger Marshall on President Biden’s speech, tax plan, American Families plan