Peters Statement on President Biden’s Budget Proposal

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today released the following statement on President Biden’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2023, which would significantly support priorities vital to Michigan, including: PFAS contamination remediation, strengthening critical infrastructure, protecting the Great Lakes, expanding domestic manufacturing, investing in American workers, and bolstering our national defense among other efforts. The proposal takes these steps all while lowering costs for families, and reducing the deficit by asking corporations and billionaires to pay their fair share.

“The President’s proposal builds on the progress we have made by working to further strengthen our economy and lower costs for families,” said Senator Peters. “I am pleased that this proposal would make investments important to Michiganders by: supporting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, making critical upgrades to the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, cleaning up PFAS contamination and working to bolster domestic manufacturing and our supply chains. A budget is a reflection of your values, and this proposal puts workers and families first while lowering costs and reducing our deficit – and ensuring that billionaires and wealthy corporations pay their fair share.” 

The President’s proposal includes priorities that are important to Michigan:

• GREAT LAKES: The budget request includes $340 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to allow the GLRI to continue supporting projects across the country—allowing regional partners to identify top threats to the Great Lakes and implement lasting solutions, whether it’s working to restore wetlands and habitats, combat invasive species like Asian Carp and protect public health by cleaning up toxic pollution. 

• INFRASTRUCTURE: 

• Strengthen Water Infrastructure: The budget request includes $4 billion to improve critical water infrastructure.

• Modernize and Upgrade Roads and Bridges: The proposal includes significant funding to modernize, repair, and improve the safety and efficiency of the nation’s network of roads and bridges. The budget provides $68.9 billion for the Federal-aid Highway Program. This includes $9.4 billion provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for 2023 and also supports funding for:

• New competitive and formula grant programs to rebuild the nation’s bridges;

• Deploying a nationwide, publicly-accessible network of electric vehicle chargers and other alternative fueling infrastructure; and

• A new resiliency grant program to enhance the resilience of surface transportation infrastructure to hazards and climate change.  

• Investments to Brandon Road Lock and Dam: The proposal would provide $47 million for upgrades to the Brandon Road Lock and Dam – which is an essential chokepoint for keeping invasive species such as Asian carp from physically reaching the Great Lakes.

• Accelerate Efforts to Bolster U.S. Ports and Waterways: The proposal continues support for the historic levels of federal investment to modernize America’s port and waterway infrastructure provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It includes $230 million for the Port Infrastructure Development Program to strengthen maritime freight capacity, as well as $1.7 billion for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to facilitate safe, reliable, and environmentally sustainable navigation at coastal ports. 

• Connect Americans to High-Speed, Affordable, and Reliable Internet: Building on the $2 billion provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for U.S. Department of Agriculture broadband programs, the budget provides $600 million for the ReConnect program, which provides grants and loans to deploy broadband in unserved areas, especially tribal areas. The budget also provides $25 million to help rural telecommunications cooperatives refinance their Rural Utilities Service debt and upgrade their broadband facilities. 

• Mitigate Climate Change Impacts: The budget request includes a total of $18 billion for climate resilience and adaptation programs across the federal government. These critical investments will reduce the risk of damages from floods and storms, restore the nation’s aquatic ecosystems, and make HUD-assisted multifamily homes more climate resilient.

• MANUFACTURING: Peters has long called for additional federal support and resources to restore and expand American manufacturing and strengthen U.S. supply chains, particularly for critical technologies like semiconductors and medical supplies. The budget request includes an increase for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership – which Peters has championed and continued to support through efforts he led in the Senate – to provide technical assistance to America’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

• WORKFORCE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: The proposal strengthens efforts to attract diverse groups of students to STEM career fields through learning opportunities and by providing connections to NASA’s mission and work. This effort includes targeted engagement of underserved populations, including underserved students and people of color. 

• PFAS CLEANUP: The budget request includes approximately $126 million – $57 million over the FY21 enacted level – to increase the understanding of PFAS impacts on human health, as well as its ecological effects; prevent toxic PFAS chemicals from entering the air, land, and water; and remediate PFAS contamination that has already been released into the environment. 

• REDUCING THE DEFICIT: The President’s proposed budget investments would boost economic growth, reduce cost pressures, and promote prosperity in a way that improves the fiscal outlook of the United States and reduces fiscal risks over the long term. The Biden Administration is on track to becoming the first Administration in history to reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion in a single year. Under this proposal, deficits would continue to decline from recent levels.

• OFFSET COSTS BY ENSURING CORPORATIONS AND BILLIONAIRES PAY FAIR SHARE: The tax code currently offers special treatment for the highest income earners, which combined with sophisticated tax planning and giant loopholes, allows many of the very wealthiest people in the world to end up paying a lower tax rate on their full income than many middle-class households. To finally address this glaring problem, the President’s budget includes a 20 percent minimum tax on multi-millionaires and billionaires who so often pay indefensibly low tax rates. This minimum tax would apply only to the wealthiest 0.01 percent of households—those with more than $100 million—and over half the revenue would come from billionaires alone. It also includes an increase to the rate that corporations pay in taxes on their profits.

• BOLSTERING NATIONAL DEFENSE & MICHIGAN MILITARY INSTALLATIONS: The budget proposal includes significant funding to strengthen our national defenses and support our U.S. armed services, including to continue support for Ukraine. Additionally, the proposal includes $16 million to construct an armory for the Camp Grayling military training facility.

• LOWERING PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS: The budget proposal expresses support for reforms that would allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, as well as require manufacturers to pay rebates when drug prices rise faster than inflation – an issue impacting countless families that Peters has heard from across the state.

• MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT IN SCHOOLS: The President’s proposal additionally includes a $1 billion investment to increase access to mental health support for students by expanding the number of counselors, nurses, school psychologists, social workers, and other health professionals in schools. Peters recently helped introduce the bipartisan Mental Health Excellence in Schools Act, which would similarly help to address the shortage of mental health professionals in schools, with the Department of Education partnering with higher education institutions to help cover students’ costs at relevant graduate programs.

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