These Industries Stand To Benefit From The Infrastructure Bill — And These Companies Are Lobbying Against It

The Biden administration is attempting to reshape the American economy by adding more stimulus bills both to create jobs, bolster infrastructure, adapt to a changing climate and offer more support to adults with children. 

The Context: Trillions of dollars of new legislation are now tied up in Congress. In August, the Senate passed the American Jobs Plan, which would spend $1.2 trillion on hard infrastructure, specifically roads, bridges and make the grid more amenable to electric vehicles.

That bill is tied ­to the Made in America Tax Plan and the American Families Plan, bolstering enforcement in the Internal Revenue Service to catch tax cheats and spend trillions on expanded childcare, universal pre-K, Medicare and free community college. 

In total, the bills would cost about $3.5 trillion and would be paid for by tax hikes on the wealthiest corporations. House Democrats don’t want to pass the American Jobs Plan without the latter two bills passing, which would only occur through budget reconciliation, as they don’t have Republican support. 

The House ­­­agreed to take up the vote on the American Jobs Plan by Sept. 27, but that vote very much depends on whether the American Families Plan has enough support in the Senate — relying on stances from more moderate Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ). 

Where Industries, Corporations Stand: There’s been a lot of lobbying against these bills from large corporations because of the potential tax hikes they would face. President Joe Biden has proposed increasing the marginal income tax rate for the top 1% of earners from 37% to 39.6%, and he would increase the capital gains and dividends tax for those who earn more than $1 million per year. 

Both Shell (NYSE: RDS-A), Walgreens WBA, Oracle ORCL and Bristol Myers Squibb BMY have lobbied against the American Jobs Plan, according to Intercept reporting. 

JPMorgan Chase JPM CEO Jamie Dimon has already spoken out against the president’s proposed changes to the tax code, telling the Washington Examiner, “If you want to have a healthy, growing, competitive America against the rest of the world, you need a global competitive tax rate because at the margin, capital will be retained and invested overseas — the same capital that you want retained and invested over here.” 

But other industries stand to make gains from the bills’ passage. Companies that rely heavily on infrastructure could make gains, including Amazon AMZN and FedEx FDX. What’s more, the transport of commodities would likely become easier, making steel, aluminum, copper, and other metals potentially more valuable, according to Bloomberg reporting. 

While taking slight dips today, gold, silver and copper have all seen their prices skyrocket in the last five years. The passage of Biden’s infrastructure bills could continue the trend. 

Photo: Chris Grafton via Unsplash.