Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is calling on the business community not to dismiss President Joe Biden’s proposed corporate tax rate hike out of hand, saying an automatic rejection would be “unacceptable.”
Biden’s proposal to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% to pay for his $2.25 trillion “American Jobs Plan” has received a lukewarm reception from congressional Republicans and most business groups.
“We want to compromise,” Raimondo told reporters Wednesday. “What we cannot do and what I am imploring the business community not to do is to say, ‘We don’t like 28%. We’re walking away. We’re not discussing.’ That’s unacceptable. Come to the table and problem-solve with us to come up with a reasonable, responsible plan.”
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Raimondo also defended Biden’s “American Jobs Plan” from criticism its definition of infrastructure requiring funding is too broad. The plan’s provisions proposing significant investments in social welfare programs related to what the Biden administration is terming the “care economy” have attracted the most scrutiny so far.
“Let’s give it a shot. Let’s go big,” she said.
Biden tapped Raimondo and four other secretaries to form his “Jobs Cabinet.” Biden has drafted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh as well to help him sell his “American Jobs Plan.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did not make the cut for the dedicated effort.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was similarly grilled on Biden’s position regarding his proposed corporate tax rate, echoing Raimondo’s message of compromise.
“Compromise is inevitable, changes are certain, and our main bottom line is an action is not an option,” she said. “What we are seeing, though, is broad agreement about the need to invest in and modernize our infrastructure.”
Despite Biden’s confidence that Democrats would back a corporate tax increase, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin this week only endorsed a 25% rate. Manchin’s support is critical if Biden wants to pass the “American Jobs Plan” in Congress given Democrats only control the evenly divided Senate thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote.
Raimondo’s Wednesday briefing was her first at the White House since she was confirmed by the Senate last month. The secretary takes over the Commerce Department as it grapples with a range of controversial issues, from Chinese sanctions to the 2020 U.S. census.
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The Commerce Department’s technology policy review, which significantly affects Chinese-owned companies such as social media platform TikTok, hasn’t concluded yet, Raimondo said. The census’s latest restricting data will be available no later than Sept. 30 after coronavirus pandemic-induced delays, she added.
