A few weeks ago president Biden released his American Jobs Plan to make the infrastructure better and get Americans back to work. The price tag for this plan is nearly 2.3 trillion dollars. While this is being negotiated in Congress to try and get this passed President Biden said he is willing to negotiate, but he’s not going to accept doing nothing to fix our infrastructure.
The White House released a state by state plan that highlights what needs to be done in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia. The fact sheets highlight how many roads and bridges need repairs, the percentage of those without broadband internet, and many other things.
In this article we are going to focus specifically on the state of Colorado and what needs to be done in the state to make it better. When looking at the overall infrastructure it earned a C- from the infrastructure report card.
According to the fact sheet, there are 481 bridges and over 3,600 miles of highway that are in need of repairs throughout the state. Since 2011, commute time for Colorado residents has increased by 9.3%, and on average, drivers have to pay $651 for car repairs due to the poor conditions of the roads.
Public transportation is also a key part of this infrastructure bill. Residents in the state of Colorado are spending an extra 74.6% of their time when they commute via public transportation. Along with this, non-white households are 1.8 times more likely to use public transportation as their primary form of commuting. 12% of trains and other public transportation vehicles are passed their useful lifespan.
Over the past 10 years, Colorado has experienced 30 extreme weather events, which has cost the state up to 50 billion dollars in damages. In order to have safe drinking water within the next 20 years, it is going to cost the state of Colorado 12.2 billion dollars.
Broadband internet is another major talking point for this bill. It is estimated that 12.1% of Coloradans don’t have access to reliable broadband internet speeds. Alongside that, 38.1% of Coloradans live in areas where there is only one option to choose from for an internet company. Even in places where there are reliable internet speeds, that doesn’t mean that everyone will be able to afford it, as 9% of people in the state are without an internet subscription.
Colorado is experiencing a lack of available and affordable housing, a problem that is causing 379,000 residents of the state to be rent burdened, meaning that more than 30% of their paycheck is going to their rent. Beyond that, low-income families are spending 4–6% of their paycheck on average to cover the costs of electricity.
Childcare is another topic discussed. There is an estimated gap of 640 million dollars in Colorado between the money that schools have to make necessary repairs and the amount that they actually require. Beyond that, 51% of Coloradans live in an area where childcare is not available to them.
Manufacturing accounts for more than 6% of the state’s total output, employing 149,000 workers. This is equal to 5.4% of the state’s workforce. In 2019, the clean energy field employed 62,420 workers. Colorado is the home to over 403,000 veterans, 11.2% of them being women and 42% of them being over the age of 65.
To see what is exactly in the bill and how much money is in each section, listen to this episode of Blind Boys Politics.
