Advancing Fairness, Recovery in 2022 Budget

President Biden’s 2022 spending plan makes the case that a promising future means aggressive action to combat climate change while rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and addressing longstanding economic inequalities.

Released on May 28, the proposed budget includes the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan and asks Congress to ease prescription drug prices, expand health care and more.

“Where we choose to invest speaks to what we value as a nation,” President Biden said. “This year’s budget, the first of my presidency, is a statement of values that define our nation at its best.”

IBEW President Lonnie Stephenson said it fulfills Biden’s promise to Build Back Better with significant investments to modernize the nation’s infrastructure that will lower emissions, increase reliability and support middle-class, union jobs.

It will also aggressively tackle climate change by investing $36 billion into renewable energy technology and expanding clean energy tax credits.

“The IBEW has always been clear that slashing carbon emissions while ensuring our nation’s energy security requires an all-of-the-above strategy that taps into every energy supply, and this budget does just that,” Stephenson said. “It invests hundreds of millions of dollars into nuclear power while supporting a wide array of clean energy resources and technologies, including hydrogen, electric vehicles, advanced energy storage and transmission.

By pairing clean-energy tax credits with strong labor standards and protections, the budget assures that clean-energy jobs will be good union ones.

“I’m especially pleased that the president is making sure that the clean-energy revolution does not leave any worker behind by doubling federal investment in coal communities, including support for carbon capture technology and direct assistance to dislocated coal workers,” Stephenson said.

“This budget will mean hundreds of thousands of good energy and manufacturing jobs in nearly every corner of the nation, and I call on Congress to take action to make it happen,” he said.