New stimulus package may include 1 trillion in infrastructure

According to Bloomberg, the next stimulus package is going to have a heavy focus on infrastructure.

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that would focus on the following:

• Roads
• Bridges
• Tunnels
• 5G wireless infrastructure
• Rural broadband

I know what you’re thinking, why would we be investing in 5G when it’s spreadin–

Okay, but on a serious note, we’ve known about this potential focus on infrastructure for a while, so this comes as no surprise.

I think many Americans can agree that this would be a wise investment for our country and a much needed one at that.

It also could be a good sign because House Democrats passed the Heroes Act, which included infrastructure investment.

So that could give both parties a good starting point for agreeing to an additional round of funding quicker. 

I’m just not sure how much House Democrats dedicated for infrastructure and if their focus is similar to that of the Trump administration. (If I had to guess, I would say there are probably some pretty big discrepancies but maybe not.)

But that $1 trillion price tag is pretty significant.

We know that the government is eyeing at least a $2 trillion package for the next stimulus package.

This is despite the fact that Republicans initially insisted on a package at around $1 trillion.

So this price tag could be very revealing regarding the possibility of another stimulus check round.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the HEROES Act stimulus check proposal would cost $413 billion.

So that would leave just over $500 billion for the overall budget, factoring in the infrastructure cost.

That’s not a lot left over considering all of the measures that lawmakers are considering.

If lawmakers want to provide more loans to small businesses and large businesses, they would have to greatly reduce the amount that they distributed last round.

Last round, about $875 billion went out in loans alone. Another $260 billion went out for unemployment benefits. $230 billion went out for grants. And $300 billion went out for tax breaks.

So if $1 trillion of a potential $2.3 trillion package goes to infrastructure, and a second round of stimulus checks goes out as proposed, the make up of this next stimulus package would look extremely different.

For the CARES Act, stimulus checks made up about 12.6% of the total budget. But if we assumed the same cost this go around at $2.3 trillion, the second round of checks would make up 18%.

So it’s a matter of whether or not lawmakers are comfortable with eating up more of the budget for stimulus checks.

If there is one encouraging sign it is that the proposed budget for this stimulus package has increased from the initial proposed amount by Republicans — perhaps a sign that spending will be more flexible than initially thought for this round.

H/T

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