President Joe Biden and Republicans are still struggling to reach an amenable infrastructure deal. As the two sides work to craft a deal, several interested parties, some surprising, are watching what happens with bated breath.
Hundreds of business organizations and other groups signed a coalition letter in February urging lawmakers to adopt a fiscally and environmentally responsible infrastructure spending package. Among the signatories was Westminster Speed and Sound, a Maryland-based company that specializes in car audio and other mobile electronics.
Mark Miller, CEO of the company, told the Washington Examiner that improving hard infrastructure is of interest to his company because everything it does revolves around automobiles, for example, upgrading vehicle audio systems.
“People in this country not only use roads for business purposes but also for pleasure,” he said. “Whether going for a weekend getaway or the annual family vacation, good roads are important to us as Americans.”
Another group that signed the coalition letter is the International Sign Association, which represents some 2,500 members who produce on-premise signage. David Hickey, vice president of advocacy with the group, explained during an interview that for every infrastructure project, signs need to be made, and he added that infrastructure spending doesn’t just affect large corporations.
“For the most part, these are mom and pop-type, small, many times family-owned manufacturing businesses that design, manufacture, install, and maintain signage,” Hickey said of his association’s membership.
He told the Washington Examiner that while many people never even think about the need for signs or who produces them, there is actually an entire industry that revolves around their usage, and a sizable infrastructure package would be a major deal.
“There is going to be a huge need for signage when it comes to all the different kinds of projects that come with it,” Hickey said. “Just going with your basic construction and street signage, that’s going to be huge. … There’s a lot of signage need.”
The real estate industry also has a vested interest. According to Charlie Oppler, president of the National Association of Realtors, a substantial and sustainable infrastructure package that includes investments in surface transportation, broadband, and water infrastructure is needed.
Oppler said the past year has shown the importance of investing in telecommunications infrastructure as it is essential for virtual learning and entrepreneurship.
“More broadly, surface transportation modernization and improvement will provide untold benefits to our nation’s communities and property owners,” he told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
Some environmental groups are also on board for an infrastructure package. Eileen Murphy, vice president of government relations with the New Jersey Audubon, told the Washington Examiner that one proposed piece of an infrastructure package that stands out to her group is the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps that would create jobs to help the environment.
Roads are also crucial to the retail food and baking industries, which rely on vehicles to transport food and baked goods to thousands of stores across the country. Andy Harig, vice president of tax, trade, sustainability, and policy development at FMI, the Food Industry Association, pointed out the importance of strong infrastructure and noted that pandemic-era supply chain issues showed how crucial improvements are.
“Modernizing our nation’s infrastructure is an important issue that will benefit both the food retail industry and our customers, given that all the product we sell is transported via roads, rails, bridges, and ports,” he said.
While varied industries are calling for Congress to pass an infrastructure package, funding is also a major concern. David Ditch, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, said that while members of both parties want to see bolstered infrastructure, agreeing on how to pay for it is a heavy lift.
“There’s a much bigger appetite for the spending than there is for paying for the spending,” Ditch emphasized.
Biden’s proposal to hike the corporate tax rate to pay for infrastructure has not only been met with enmity by Republicans, but also by many of those same varied industries hoping for an infrastructure package to come to fruition.
The Chamber of Commerce, which organized the coalition letter, announced its public opposition to Biden’s plan to raise the corporate tax rate and called the notion “dangerously misguided.”
“We strongly oppose the general tax increases proposed by the administration which will slow the economic recovery and make the United States less competitive globally — the exact opposite of the goals of the infrastructure plan,” the group said in a statement.
It is yet to be seen when and if a package will make its way to the Oval Office, but hundreds of businesses and industries across the country are now holding their breath.
