KANSAS CITY, Mo. — President Joe Biden on Wednesday visited the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority to tout the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill he signed into law last month, expected to bring billions in spending on roads and bridges, clean water, public transportation, high speed internet and more to Kansas and Missouri.
The president said investments amount to a “blue collar blueprint” for rebuilding the country, providing more good-paying jobs and economic opportunities, 95% of which don’t require a college degree.
For the better part of the 20th century, the United States became a global leader through “our willingness to invest in ourselves,” he said, citing the space race and the dawn of the internet. Now, he said, China and the rest of the world are catching up and moving beyond.
Running through Biden’s speech was a thread of frustration at the state of the nation’s infrastructure and the difficulties faced by those who struggle to afford prescription drugs or access the internet, implying the nation should be doing far better.
“We never break. We never stop. We Americans always rebuild, and we will rebuild this country,” Biden said.
The visit marks Biden’s first trip to the Kansas City area since assuming office. First Lady Jill Biden visited Kansas City, Kansas, earlier this year.
Biden said the law does something historic in rebuilding the country, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail.
“When I announced for office, I said I was running for three reasons,” Biden said. “One, to restore the soul of this country, a sense of decency and honor. Two, to rebuild the backbone of this country, working class and hardworking middle class people — that’s the backbone of this country. And thirdly, to unite the country, which is turning out to be one of the most difficult things, but we’re going to get it done.”
Kansas City, a far-flung city of more than half a million people, has struggled to keep up with the infrastructure needs across its 300 square miles. For years, residents’ water bills rose by double digits every year to fund a federally mandated upgrade to keep the city’s wastewater from overflowing. The city renegotiated that mandate with the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year.
Kansas City’s iconic Buck O’Neil Bridge has long needed replacing and had to be rehabilitated in 2018 while it awaited funding for replacement. The state owned bridge is now being rebuilt at the cost of $250 million, half of which the city contributed through a sales tax increase.
Missouri’s highways are notoriously troublesome with more than $4.5 billion in unfunded needs. The Missouri General Assembly this spring increased the per gallon tax on gasoline for the first time in almost 30 years.
Under the legislation, Kansas is expected to get $2.6 billion in highway funds and $225 million for bridges over five years. Missouri is expected to receive $6.5 billion and $484 million for those investments.
The bill also allocates $866 million to Missouri and $454 million to Kansas to eradicate lead from drinking water systems and update infrastructure. The two states have enormous numbers of lead service lines carrying water from mains into residents’ homes. And Kansas and Missouri children suffer at high rates from elevated blood levels.
A study published in September found more than 80% of children in Missouri and 60% in Kansas have some amount of lead in their blood. In Missouri, 4.5% of kids had elevated levels of blood lead — more than 5 micrograms per deciliter. In Kansas, that was 2.6%, putting both states above the 1.9% national average.
And both states would get hundreds of millions to expand broadband service to disconnected rural areas and low-income families that can’t afford internet access.
Biden said no parent in 21st century America should have to sit in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant to use the internet, like many did during the pandemic.
