The Need for Action in Puerto Rico
For decades, infrastructure in Puerto Rico has suffered from a systemic lack of investment. The need for action is clear:
Puerto Rico’s infrastructure received a D− grade on its Infrastructure Report Card. The American Jobs Plan will make a historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure.
- Roads and Bridges: In Puerto Rico there are 282 bridges and over 1,492 miles of highway in poor condition. The American Jobs Plan will devote more than $600 billion to transform our nations' transportation infrastructure and make it more resilient, including $115 billion repairing roads and bridges.
- Public Transportation: Nearly 5% of trains and other transit vehicles in Puerto Rico are past useful life. The American Jobs Plan will modernize public transit with an $85 billion investment.
- Resilient Infrastructure: From 2010 to 2020, Puerto Rico has experienced several extreme weather events, costing Puerto Rico tens of billions of dollars in damages. The President is calling for $50 billion to improve the resiliency of our infrastructure and support communities’ recovery from disaster.
- Drinking Water: Over the next 20 years, Puerto Rico’s drinking water infrastructure will require $3.7 billion in additional funding. The American Jobs Plan includes a $111 billion investment to ensure clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.
- Housing: To help with the rent burden Puerto Ricans are facing, the President proposes investing over $200 billion to increase housing supply and address the affordable housing crisis.
- Broadband: Over 13% of Puerto Ricans live in areas where, by one definition, there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. And 68.8% of Puerto Ricans live in areas where there is only one such provider. Moreover, even where infrastructure is available, broadband may be too expensive to be within reach. Nearly 40% of Puerto Rico households do not have an internet subscription. The American Jobs Plan will invest $100 billion to bring universal, reliable, high-speed, and affordable coverage to every family in America.
- Caregiving: Across the country, hundreds of thousands of older adults and people with disabilities are in need of home and community-based services. The President's plan will invest $400 billion to help more people access care and improve the quality of caregiving jobs.
- Child Care: In Puerto Rico, there is an enormous gap in what schools need to do maintenance and make improvements and far too many residents live in a childcare desert. The American Jobs Plan will modernize our nation’s schools and early learning facilities and build new ones in neighborhoods across Puerto Rico and the country.
- Manufacturing: The American Jobs Plan will invest $300 billion to retool and revitalize American manufacturers, including providing incentives for manufacturers to invest in innovative energy projects
