Politics

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Says The Quiet Part About Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Plan Out Loud

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Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Wednesday morning on Twitter that child care, paid leave and caregiving are “infrastructure” in defense of President Joe Biden’s nearly $2 trillion infrastructure package.

“Paid leave is infrastructure,” the tweet said. “Child care is infrastructure. Caregiving is infrastructure.”

Biden introduced the expansive infrastructure package, titled the American Jobs Plan, on March 31 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The bill has been criticized for including provisions seemingly unrelated to infrastructure, like paid family and medical leave. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Calls Out Biden’s Infrastructure Plan, Says It’s A Green New Deal, Reparations Bill)

Although it does allocate $600 billion to improve roads, bridges and public transit, a White House Fact Sheet shows that the package also includes significant funding for developments aimed at addressing climate change and “long-standing and persistent racial injustice.”

“Both our failing physical infrastructure and the impossible choices we impose on caregivers put our nation at a competitive disadvantage,” House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal wrote in a letter to Democratic committee members pledging that paid medical and family leave would be included in the bill. “If it is the road that gets you to work, it is the child care that gets you through the day, and workers are counting on these supports.”

“Strengthening our care economy will align closely with President Biden’s American Family Plan that he is set to unveil in the coming weeks, but the urgency of this necessitates that we begin our work now.”