S H E A R M A N & S T E R L I N G L L P | 3 1
placement to finance the acquisition of
approximately 375 miles of rate-regulated
electric transmission lines in Texas, (ii)
bank lenders on the financing of the
construction and expansion of an up to
490 MW/1,525 MWh portfolio of three
battery energy storage projects located
in California and (iii) bank lenders on the
financing of the design, engineering and
construction of three data centers located
in Loudoun County, Virginia, that are
leased to a subsidiary of Amazon.com,
Inc.
All of the above are on top of spending
initiatives of $1.4 trillion on a range of
other job creation and social welfare
initiatives.
MADE IN AMERICA TAX PLAN
In connection with the release of the AJP,
the Biden administration also released
its Made in America Tax Plan which
administration officials suggest would
offset the full cost of the AJP over 15
years.3 Notably, the plan's proposals do
not focus on increasing charges payable
by infrastructure users, such as an
increase in federal excise tax on gasoline
or the introduction of a "vehicle miles-
traveled" fee to account for the increase
in hybrid and electric vehicles. Instead,
it relies on a set of modifications to the
tax code, including an increase of the
corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28
percent and changes to the tax treatment
of income of multinational corporations.
Paul Epstein
Partner
New York
T +1 212 848 5266
paul.epstein@shearman.com
1. The White House, Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Plan, March 31, 2021.
2. The White House, Fact Sheet: The American Families Plan, April 28, 2021.
3. The White House, Background Press Call by a Senior Administration Official on
the President's American Jobs Plan, March 30, 2021.
4. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, The Republican
Roadmap: A Framework to Improve the Nation's Infrastructure, April 22, 2021.
Dave Ullman
Associate
New York
T +1 212 848 5131
dave.ullman@shearman.com
LEGISLATIVE OUTLOOK
Discussions have begun among the
Democratic and Republican parties on
approaches to potential legislation. On
April 22, a group of Republican Senators,
including the Ranking Member of the
Committee on Environment and Public
Works, which handles infrastructure
matters, released in response to the AJP
a two-page framework to spend
$568 billion over five years on
infrastructure programs and initiatives
(the "Roadmap").4 The Roadmap differs
from the AJP in several key ways. First,
whereas the AJP proposes numerous
investments that supplement existing
surface transportation program spending,
the spending proposed by the Roadmap
includes amounts already programmed
for reauthorization. Second, in contrast
to the AJP's wide-ranging scope, the
Roadmap's scope is limited to traditional
transportation and water infrastructure
spending, with the addition of a
substantial new investment in broadband
development. Finally, unlike the AJP
and the Made in America Tax Plan, the
Roadmap does not include a detailed
revenue proposal designed to offset the
cost of new infrastructure investments.
The AJP and the Roadmap present
contrasting visions for infrastructure
spending but do not include proposed
legislative text. Accordingly, the plans
will be subject to extensive negotiation
among, and substantial revisions by,
House and Senate leadership and
relevant congressional committees. We
expect the final legislative text to differ
significantly from both plans and will
provide further updates as legislative
proposals take shape.
