Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) highlighted the critical infrastructure needs across Florida with the release of a new fact sheet from the White House.  The pressing needs of our neighbors and communities underscore the importance of the American Jobs Plan, a comprehensive infrastructure package that would create jobs in construction, manufacturing, clean energy, and other industries through much-needed investments in America's roads, bridges, electric grid, and water systems.

The full fact sheet from Rep. Castor and President Joe Biden is available here.

“The Tampa Bay area and the State of Florida have massive infrastructure needs – from our roads and bridges to our drinking water and our schools, to public transportation and long-term care facilities. To unlock the Sunshine state’s full potential and shore up good-paying jobs here in Tampa, we must build up the systems and structures that support our economy, including a modern, more resilient infrastructure,” said Castor. “The American Jobs Plan is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create millions of good-paying union jobs while bringing our infrastructure into the 21st century and protecting families and small businesses from the growing costs of the climate crisis.”

Florida received a C grade on its Infrastructure Report Card from the American Society of Civil Engineers:

• ROADS AND BRIDGES: In Florida there are 408 bridges and over 3,564 miles of highway in poor condition. Since 2011, commute times have increased by 11.6% in Florida and on average, each driver pays $425 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair. The American Jobs Plan will devote more than $600 billion to transform our nations' transportation infrastructure and make it more resilient, including $115 billion repairing roads and bridges.

• PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Floridians who take public transportation spend an extra 77.9% of their time commuting and non-White households are 3.5 times more likely to commute via public transportation. 16% of trains and other transit vehicles in the state are past useful life. The American Jobs Plan will modernize public transit with an $85 billion investment.

• RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: From 2010 to 2020, Florida has experienced 22 extreme weather events, costing the state up to $100 billion in damages. The President is calling for $50 billion to improve the resiliency of our infrastructure and support communities’ recovery from disaster.

• DRINKING WATER: Over the next 20 years, Florida’s drinking water infrastructure will require $21.9 billion in additional funding. The American Jobs Plan includes a $111 billion investment to ensure clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.

• HOUSING: In part due to a lack of available and affordable housing, 1,445,000 renters in Florida are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent. The President proposes investing over $200 billion to increase housing supply and address the affordable housing crisis.

• HOME ENERGY: In Florida, an average low-income family spends 8-10% of their income on home energy costs forcing tough choices between paying energy bills and buying food, medicine or other essentials. The American Jobs Plan will upgrade low-income homes to make them more energy efficient through a historic investment in the Weatherization Assistance Program, a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to finance building improvements, and expanded tax credits to support home energy upgrades.

• CLEAN ENERGY JOBS: As of 2019, there were 166,032 Floridians working in clean energy, and the American Jobs Plan invests in creating more good paying union jobs advancing clean energy production by extending and expanding tax credits for clean energy generation, carbon capture and sequestration and clean energy manufacturing.

• VETERANS HEALTH: Florida is home to over 1.5 million veterans, 9.5% of whom are women and 53% of whom are over the age of 65. The President is calling for $18 billion to improve the infrastructure of VA health care facilities to ensure the delivery of world-class, state of the art care to veterans enrolled in the VA health care system. This includes improvements to ensure appropriate care for women and older veterans.

• BROADBAND: 6% of Floridians live in areas where, by one definition, there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. And 51.1% of Floridians live in areas where there is only one such internet provider. Even where infrastructure is available, broadband may be too expensive to be within reach. 13% of Florida households do not have an internet subscription. The American Jobs Plan will invest $100 billion to bring universal, reliable, high-speed, and affordable coverage to every family in America.

• CAREGIVING: Across the country, hundreds of thousands of older adults and people with disabilities are in need of home and community-based services. The President’s plan will invest $400 billion to help more people access care and improve the quality of caregiving jobs.

• CHILD CARE: In Florida, 38% of residents live in a childcare desert. The American Jobs Plan will modernize our nation’s schools and early learning facilities and build new ones in neighborhoods across Florida and the country.

• MANUFACTURING: Manufacturers account for more than 5% of total output in Florida, employing 382,000 workers, or 4.2% of the state’s workforce. The American Job’s Plan will invest $300 billion to retool and revitalize American manufacturers.