Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Rep Terri Sewell (AL-07) highlighted a new fact sheet from the White House that outlines the urgent need to address critical infrastructure across Alabama, from our roads and bridges, to public transportation, to broadband and wastewater, to our VA health care facilities, which all are in dire need of repair. These pressing needs underscore the importance of the American Jobs Plan, which will make historic investments in improving the Nation’s infrastructure and put millions of people back to work.

“For far too long, we have neglected Alabama’s critical infrastructure needs – from our roads and bridges to our drinking water and broadband to our schools and long-term care facilities.  To unlock our state’s full economic potential, we need to build up the infrastructure that supports our modern economy,” said Rep. Terri Sewell.  “The American Jobs Plan is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create millions of good-paying union jobs while bringing our infrastructure into the 21st century.”

“I am proud to support the $2 trillion American Jobs Plan,” continued Sewell. “With this initiative, we are seizing the opportunity to not only recover from this time of crisis, but to Build Back Better.  This means not only making monumental investments in key areas of our economy and creating new jobs, but also lifting up our rural communities, communities of color and vulnerable families across our state. This plan will invest in America’s workers and turbocharge our Nation’s competitiveness in the world.”

The American Jobs Plan will make a historic investment in our Nation’s infrastructure. It will support: 

• ROADS AND BRIDGES: In Alabama there are 620 bridges and over 2,950 miles of highway in poor condition. Since 2011, commute times have increased by 8.9% in Alabama and on average, each driver pays $434 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair. The American Jobs Plan will devote more than $600 billion to transform our nations' transportation infrastructure and make it more resilient, including $115 billion repairing roads and bridges. 
• PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Alabamians who take public transportation spend an extra 66.2% of their time commuting and non-White households are 4.5 times more likely to commute via public transportation. 25% of trains and other transit vehicles in the state are past useful life. The American Jobs Plan will modernize public transit with an $85 billion investment. 
• RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: From 2010 to 2020, Alabama has experienced 38 extreme weather events, costing the state up to $20 billion in damages. The President is calling for $50 billion to improve the resiliency of our infrastructure and support communities’ recovery from disaster. 
• DRINKING WATER: Over the next 20 years, Alabama’s drinking water infrastructure will require $11.3 billion in additional funding. The American Jobs Plan includes a $111 billion investment to ensure clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.
• HOUSING: In part due to a lack of available and affordable housing, 260,000 renters in Alabama are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent. The President proposes investing over $200 billion to increase housing supply and address the affordable housing crisis. 
• BROADBAND: 16.8% of Alabamians live in areas where, by one definition, there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. And 55.4% of Alabamians live in areas where there is only one such internet provider. Even where infrastructure is available, broadband may be too expensive to be within reach. 18.4% of Alabama households do not have an internet subscription. The American Jobs Plan will invest $100 billion to bring universal, reliable, high-speed, and affordable coverage to every family in America. 
• CAREGIVING: Across the country, hundreds of thousands of older adults and people with disabilities are in need of home and community-based services. The President’s plan will invest $400 billion to help more people access care and improve the quality of caregiving jobs. 
• CHILD CARE: In Alabama, there is an estimated $299 million gap in what schools need to do maintenance and make improvements and 60% of residents live in a childcare desert. The American Jobs Plan will modernize our nation’s schools and early learning facilities and build new ones in neighborhoods across Alabama and the country.
• MANUFACTURING: Manufacturers account for more than 17% of total output in Alabama, employing 271,000 workers, or 13% of the state’s workforce. The American Job’s Plan will invest $300 billion to retool and revitalize American manufacturers. 
• HOME ENERGY: In Alabama, an average low-income family spends 10-12% of their income on home energy costs forcing tough choices between paying energy bills and buying food, medicine or other essentials. The American Jobs Plan will upgrade low-income homes to make them more energy efficient through a historic investment in the Weatherization Assistance Program, a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to finance building improvements, and expanded tax credits to support home energy upgrades.
• CLEAN ENERGY JOBS: As of 2019, there were 43,828 Alabamians working in clean energy, and the American Jobs Plan invests in creating more good paying union jobs advancing clean energy production by extending and expanding tax credits for clean energy generation, carbon capture and sequestration and clean energy manufacturing. 
• VETERANS HEALTH: Alabama is home to over 370,000 veterans, 10.6% of whom are women and 43.5% of whom are over the age of 65. The President is calling for $18 billion to improve the infrastructure of VA health care facilities to ensure the delivery of world-class, state of the art care to veterans enrolled in the VA health care system. This includes improvements to ensure appropriate care for women and older veterans

Led by President Biden and Congressional Democrats, the American Jobs Plan targets these infrastructure needs and more. This initiative is designed to energize our stagnant economy as we begin to recover from the pandemic, as well as lay the foundation for future economic growth and ensure our nation is competitive in the global economy for decades to come.

The full fact sheet from Rep. Sewell and President Biden is available here.