Infrastructure Revitalization: Indian Country’s Unmet Needs President Biden campaigned on a sprawling infrastructure agenda, promising significant federal investments to meet the nation’s long-standing infrastructure needs, while also addressing climate change. After lengthy negotiations with Congress, the Administration has settled on a two-prong approach. The first track for infrastructure revitalization will focus on funding for “physical” infrastructure needs that will require a 60-vote threshold in the U.S. Senate. President Biden announced in late June that he had reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of 21 senators (11 Republicans and 10 Democrats) on a framework for a physical infrastructure package that totals $1.2 trillion and includes $580 billion in new funding. The second package will seek funding for a broader range of infrastructure, and include components of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, which includes an extended child care tax credit for lower income families, establishes universal pre-K education, and seeks to cut costs of higher education. This second phase of infrastructure legislation will likely advance through the budget reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority in both the House and Senate. The package, still under negotiation, will range from $2 to 6 trillion, pending offsets to the Tax Code and other methods to pay for the proposal. On July 9, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) stated his intention is to advance both infrastructure packages through the U.S. Senate in the current legislative work period, before Congress departs for the usual August summer break. Indian Country Infrastructure. Indian Country’s infrastructure backlog is estimated to stand at more than $50 billion, covering the entire range of basic structures and systems. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the infrastructure shortfalls throughout Indian Country. Overcrowded homes, substandard health facilities, and broken water systems all contributed to spreading the virus in Native communities. As schools closed, the lack of broadband made it impossible for many students to engage in remote learning. In addition to being a direct health threat to Native communities, these longstanding infrastructure disparities have stalled economic development in Indian Country for generations. Tribal governments and Native organizations urge the Administration and Congress to follow the historic precedent set in the American Rescue Plan by including at least a 5 percent Tribal governments set aside from funding resources directed to all governments to mee the significant unmet infrastructure needs of Indian Country . Investing in Indian Country infrastructure will make our communities more resilient, spur job growth through construction, foster long-term economic development by opening doors for Native entrepreneurs, and stabilize and diversify tribal economies for generations to come. These direct federal investments in Indian Country infrastructure should be coupled with long needed reforms to the U.S. Tax Code. The Code provides broad tools to state and local governments to spur outside investment in infrastructure projects. These same provisions fail to provide direct funding to tribal governments, forcing tribes to seek pass through resources from state governments. Infrastructure revitalization represents a new opportunity to reform the Tax Code to extend tax incentives to tribal governments, better enabling them to address long-standing infrastructure needs. Indian Country holds significant untapped economic potential, job growth, and small business development that can be unlocked through targeted tax reform measures. Reforms to federal tax programs should address the lack of tribal access to or benefit from the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit programs; limitations imposed on tribes by the tax-exempt bond provisions of the Tribal Government Tax Status Act; and ensuring that the Build America Bonds or any similar new program provides direct funding to Indian Country or a significant set-aside for tribal governments. Direct access to these programs will spur tribal government-private sector partnerships to help rebuild Indian Country infrastructure, develop small business, and improve tribal government systems nationwide.
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