Plan Includes Priorities Brown Has Long Fought for: Protecting Workers, Investing in Our Nation’s Infrastructure & Transit Systems, Improving Access to Affordable Housing, Strengthening U.S. Manufacturing, & More
WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 28, 2021 – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today applauded President Biden’s newly released proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022. The proposed budget includes major investments in infrastructure, social programs, and America’s greatest asset – its workers.
“This budget is a transformational investment in American workers, American families, and American infrastructure,” Brown said. “This budget invests in our economic recovery and in the communities that Washington and Wall Street have left on their own, and will create good-paying jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.”
Brown believes we must invest in the people and the communities that make this country work, and he looks forward to working with the Administration to make these once-in-a-generation investments a reality, alongside historic investments to improve our nation’s infrastructure and create good-paying jobs.
The President’s Budget contains investments that would benefit Ohioans and their communities. The proposed budget would:
· Fight worker misclassification by including $30 million for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and working with Congress to implement the “ABC” test
o Senator Brown’s landmark labor legislation features the “ABC” test and would protect workers’ rights and hold employers accountable for worker misclassification
· Lower drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices
o Senator Brown’s Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and address the prescription drug affordability crisis
· Increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
o Senator Brown introduced legislation this week that would empower the IRS to ensure high-income tax cheats pay what they owe – which is nearly $1 trillion in evaded taxes
· Overhaul international taxation
o The President’s proposal is similar to a framework put forward by Senators Brown, Wyden, and Warner to invest in America by rewarding corporations for creating jobs at home and ensuring they pay their fair share of taxes
· Build, rehabilitate, and retrofit affordable, accessible, energy efficient, and resilient housing units, commercial buildings, schools, and child care facilities all over the country – while also vastly improving our nation’s federal facilities, especially those that serve veterans
o As Chairman of the Senate Banking and Housing Committee, Senator Brown has made it a priority to bring down the cost of housing, including by retrofitting affordable homes
o Senator Brown also introduced legislation this week to invest in high-quality child care facilities and invest in the child care workforce
· Include $13.5 billion in much-needed funds for transit construction, safety oversight and grant management, and climate resilience projects for the Federal Transit Administration, in addition to the $85 billion proposed for public transit in the American Jobs Plan
· Make historic investments across the federal government to address the climate crisis
· Strengthen food assistance and cut down on childhood hunger by making pandemic EBT cards available in the summer
· Make new targeted investments in Appalachian communities across Southeast Ohio with $235 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission, including $72 million for POWER – which is targeted to coal communities