Joined by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, and Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning, Harris, in a speech at Guilford Technical Community College, billed the $2.25 trillion package as an investment in "good jobs."
"It's pretty simple: A good job allows people the freedom to build the life you want," the vice president commented.
p>The starting point, North Carolina, checks two boxes: It's a swing state where Democrats hope to make incursions in the House and Senate next November, and it also has massive infrastructure needs.
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"We have, except for Texas, the most miles of highways, and we have significantly bad bridges," said David McLennan, director of the statewide Meredith Poll.
"We were always known as the good highway state for many years. We had governors who like to build highways, and we have highways to go crazy places," McLennan said. "But they're older and haven't been maintained like they should have. We have a lot of miles per capita, so to speak, and the need is here."
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Central to Harris's speech were the "good jobs" the plan would create locally, which stem directly from legislation on water infrastructure, broadband, and electric school bus fleets she introduced or co-sponsored while a California senator.
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"Too often, opportunity knocks from far away ... but that should be a choice, not a necessity, and that's why we want to bring opportunity closer to home," Harris said. "An electrician in Helena could get a good job laying broadband lines a few towns over, a forklift operator, right here in Greensboro, could get a good job fixing the road they drive on every day."
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President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan would spend more than $2 trillion on a combination of hard infrastructure, such as bridge, road, and highway renovations, and provisions such as lead pipe refitting and nationwide broadband. The plan also calls for boosting pay for home health and elder care workers, defined as infrastructure under a broader definition the White House is using.
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While Republican support for the bill remains unlikely, the issues central to Harris's visit have garnered bipartisan interest in North Carolina, as well as Washington.
p>"Historically, when I've polled on this particular issue, it has gotten bipartisan support," McLennan said. "Infrastructure is one of those things that sells. We've tried to move broadband through the state Legislature, and that seems to be getting bipartisan backing."
Harris will head to New Hampshire Friday, the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state and her first visit since she ran for president in 2019.
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