VP Harris promotes infrastructure, jobs plan in NC visit

The combination of spending and tax credits in the American Jobs Plan would translate into 20,000 miles of rebuilt roads and bridges, higher wages, better internet service, cleaner drinking water and a long list of other projects intended to create millions of jobs in the short run and strengthen U.S. competitiveness in the long run, according to the White House. The plan also would accelerate the fight against climate change by hastening the shift to new, cleaner energy sources and would help promote racial equality in the economy. officials said.

"The American Jobs Plan is not just about fixing what has been. It's about building what can be," Harris said during a visit to Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown.

She called the proposal, which would be paid for through higher corporate taxes, a once-in-a-lifetime effort to create "good jobs for every worker everywhere."

"It's pretty simple: A good job allows people the freedom to build the life you want, to reach as high as you want, to aspire," she said.

A chunk of the spending proposed in the plan would go to community colleges and job-training programs to help people obtain the needed skills beyond a high school education to obtain jobs in growing fields where they can succeed, Harris said.

"We can't just think about higher education without thinking about what kind of training Americans need to get hired," she said. "There isn't only one path to success."

North Carolina Republican party Chairman Michael Whatley compared the infrastructure plan "a Trojan horse."

"Only about 6 [or] 7 percent of it would actually go to infrastructure. The rest ... would go to a liberal wish list of priorities," Whatley said. "We would like to see a targeted bill that would focus on actual infrastructure. ... This is the type of tax plan that would actually cut jobs rather than create them."

But Charles Lattuca, president and chief executive of GoTriangle, praised the far-reaching proposal, saying federal support is needed for a commuter rail project and rapid bus routes planned for the region to succeed.

"Public transportation is going to be a key to ensuring the region’s success, ensuring mobility, giving people jobs, getting people to school," Lattuca said.

"When you think about infrastructure and transportation projects, they are really the backbone of any region’s economic success and quality of life," agreed Brandon Jones, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation. "The Triangle is a growing area, a diverse community, and it takes a lot of resources to build and maintain a high-quality multi-modal transportation system."

Harris also toured Thomas Built Buses in HighPoint, which is building electric buses that will be part of the effort to combat climate change.

Gov. Roy Cooper and Michael Regan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator and former environmental chief in North Carolina, joined Harris for her first visit to North Carolina since taking office.