BUFFALO (WBEN) - Last Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced the American Jobs Plan - a $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill that hopes to create "millions of jobs" over eight years.
“It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” said Biden. “It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago."
Congressman Brian Higgins has been pushing for a massive infrastructure spending bill for several years, so it's no surprise that he fully supports the American Jobs Plan.
"It's the largest infrastructure investment in the history of the nation," Higgins began. "When you invest in infrastructure, you invest in the growth of the American economy. We will create 96,000 jobs every single month for the next two years."
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Senator Chuck Schumer stopped in Buffalo last week and talked at length about the American Jobs Plan, saying Western New York will benefit greatly from the legislation.
"I look forward to working with President Biden to pass a big, bold plan that will drive America forward for decades to come," said Schumer. "This plan will have huge benefits for Western New York - it will help modernize our aging infrastructure, something we desperately need, with federal dollars, and it will create tens of thousands of new, good paying jobs right here in Western New York."
While Higgins didn't cite a specific amount of money that Buffalo stands to see with the potential passing of this legislation, he does believe "a lot" of resources would be coming to the region, and the congressman has several priority projects for the city.
"It's not just one individual thing, it's the enormity of the bill that will give us an opportunity to address a number of infrastructure replacement projects and improvement projects that have been deferred for decades," said Higgins.
Specifically, Higgins would like to see the Scajaquada Expressway restored as a parkway, the restoration of the Humboldt Parkway, and a new system to replace the Skyway that is made up of pedestrian and bicycle access. Additionally, Higgins also mentioned the importance replacing all lead water pipes, as 60% of the homes in Buffalo are serviced by lead pipes.
When asked about the infrastructure bill and what it would mean for Buffalo if passed, Mayor Byron Brown said "the city is ready with shovel-ready projects to be able to present."
Brown said the city is hoping that Buffalo would receive "in the hundreds of millions of dollars" in federal money from this infrastructure bill.
"Obviously, one of the projects we would like to be able to continue and fund is Cars Sharing Main Street in downtown Buffalo," said Brown. "There has been a multiplier effect, so for every public dollar we have invested, there has been a $3 to $5 private sector investment return and job creation, so we think that project is very important for the City of Buffalo."
The mayor also added that the city would also want to be responsive to resident concerns regarding the condition of roads in the city.
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"With the harsh freeze-thaw cycle that all northeastern cities have, people have been concerned about potholes and road conditions," Brown continued. "We want to make sure that is a major part of our plan as well, and that we are addressing the repair of streets in every single section in the City of Buffalo."