Cherries and Infrastructure on Biden’s Plate in Michigan

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Traverse City, Michigan (AP) – President Joe Biden spoke about his bipartisan infrastructure package and additional plans to invest in families and education during a Saturday visit to a Michigan cherry farm. He also introduced his immigration plans when chatting with two Guatemalan couples who were picking cherries.

Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer welcomed Biden’s midday arrival in Traverse City, which hosts the National Cherry Blossom Festival, an event that has drawn Presidents Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford in the past.

While touring a cherry farm in nearby Antrim County, Whitmer told reporters that she hasn’t spoken to Biden about any Michigan-specific infrastructure projects.

“I’m the arbiter of repair roads, so I talk about infrastructure with everyone, including the president,” she said. In recent floods, she said, the state had seen “undeveloped infrastructure colliding with climate change” and highways were underwater.

“So this is an important moment. And that’s why this infrastructure package is so important. And that’s also why I got President Rocky Road Fudge from Mackinac Island for his trip here.”

Asked if the infrastructure package had enough money for electric cars, Whitmer indicated that more was needed. “There is a lot of investment that needs to happen to support electric cars,” she said. “But we have a lot to do in that regard.”

Biden’s hostess at King Orchards, Juliette King McAvoy, introduced him to the Guatemalan couple, who she said had been working on the farm for 35 years. He told them he was suggesting a path to citizenship for farm workers. Then Biden picked a cherry out of one of their baskets and ate it.

Biden’s trip to Michigan was part of a broader campaign by the administration to garner public support for an infrastructure package and other policies geared toward families and education.

First Lady Jill Biden was traveling to Maine and New Hampshire on Saturday, while Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to visit a union training center in Las Vegas.

The president said the key to getting his $973 billion deal in Congress involves taking the issue directly to voters. While Republicans and Democrats may squabble in Washington, Biden’s theory is that lawmakers from both parties want to advance the interests of their constituents.

White House officials negotiated a compromise with a bipartisan group of senators led by Republican Rob Portman of Ohio and Democrat Kirsten Sinema of Arizona.

The agreement, announced in June, includes $109 billion for roads and highways, $15 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure and transportation systems and $65 billion for broadband, among other expenditures on airports, drinking water systems and resilience efforts to tackle climate change.

It will be funded through the COVID-19 relief approved in 2020 but the unspent and reallocated money to boost unemployment benefits and increase IRS enforcement on wealthy Americans who avoid taxes. Funding also depends on the lease of 5G telecom spectrum, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and potential economic growth resulting from the investments.

Biden intends to pass additional initiatives around education and families as well as raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations through the budget reconciliation process. This would allow Biden’s priorities to be passed through a simple majority vote, avoiding the 60-vote barrier in the Senate split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

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