Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden’s original $1.9 trillion American Jobs Plan.
The counteroffer is a substantial increase compared to the GOP’s previous five-year, $568 billion proposal, but still far less comprehensive than what the White House has called for, particularly when it comes to “soft infrastructure” like home- and community-based services (HCBS). For the most part, Republican leaders hope to keep infrastructure spending to roads, bridges and railways.
“We’re going to keep talking, and I understand the president is willing to keep talking,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told one media outlet. “We’d like to get an outcome on a significant infrastructure package.”
The GOP plan does not include the same $400 billion boost to HCBS featured in Biden’s infrastructure proposal. The American Jobs Plan seeks to use the hundreds of billions of dollars to lessen the country’s reliance on long-term care facilities and keep more people in the home-based care profession.
The Republican counter offer would likewise cut roughly $213 million to support affordable housing for low-income seniors and others.
Leaders from Washington, D.C.-based LeadingAge said additional support for older Americans and home-based care should be seen as “non-negotiable.”
“It’s an outrage to hear that some Congressional leaders want to strip every dollar for affordable housing and [HCBS] for older Americans out of the legislation,” Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of the nonprofit LeadingAge, said in a statement. “At a time when millions of older adults are facing hardships, it’s unconscionable that anyone would even think of turning their back on them.”
The Republican plan, put forward by a group led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, does include $506 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects, including $4 billion for electric vehicles. It also includes $98 billion for public transportation, $72 billion for water systems and $65 billion for broadband.
GOP leaders are reportedly seeking to pay for their plan by redirecting federal COVD-19 aid, an idea that could hurt home health providers and other Medicare-reimbursed health care organizations.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement that the Biden administration expects more information about the GOP proposal as negotiations continue.
“At first review, we note several constructive additions to the group’s previous proposals, including on roads, bridges and rail,” Psaki said. “At the same time, we remain concerned that their plan still provides no substantial new funds for critical job-creating needs, such as fixing our veterans’ hospitals, building modern rail systems, repairing our transit systems, removing dangerous lead pipes, and powering America’s leadership in a job-creating clean energy economy, among other things.”
Multiple Washington, D.C., insiders suggested to Home Health Care News that there is essentially no chance of HCBS funding being included in an immediate infrastructure package, as Republicans have been consistently against anything beyond brick-and-mortar infrastructure since the start.
The only path to HCBS funding in infrastructure would be through reconciliation, but Democrats have said they’d like to avoid that legislative tactic in the upcoming package.
It’s important to note that HCBS may still receive support from Congress in the future. If funds aren’t included in the infrastructure package, they could be baked into a third package that comes out in late summer or early fall.
Alternatively, members of Congress may look to introduce standalone legislation that supports home- and community-based services, as HCBS has historically been a bipartisan issue.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) International President Mary Kay Henry described Thursday’s Republican proposal as “unserious.”
“The American Jobs Plan would change the game for millions of workers and countless families who depend on home- and community-based care services,” Henry said. “It represents the kind of bold, transformative solutions we need to make our economy work for everyone.”
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