Schools

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included some funding for school retrofits, but much more is needed to repair and modernize our school infrastructure to  serve our students better.

K-12 Public school buildings are estimated to have a cumulative $85 billion in annual deferred maintenance costs and the majority of public schools that are run down, unsafe and pose health risks are in lower-income areas and communities of color. 

An investment of $130 billion in school infrastructure, comprised of $100 billion in grants and $30 billion in bonds as in the Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act, would create 3,848,000 direct, 1,794,000 indirect, and 3,123,250 induced job-years, a total of 8,765,250 job-years across the country. These totals assume federal investments cover 20% of the project costs, with local spending making up the rest.

Neither the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or the Build Back Better Act include funding to address school infrastructure.

MUSH (Municipal Buildings, Universities, Schools, and Hospitals)

It is more cost effective to do resiliency and energy efficiency upgrades simultaneously. If the funding in Build Back Better were increased to $3.2 billion—the original amount in the House markup—it would result in 84,000 Direct, 54,080 Indirect, and 76,000 Induced totaling 215,840 jobs over ten years. The combination of Build Back Better and IIJA would result in 90,562 direct, 58,305 indirect, and 81,937 induced jobs, a total of 230,804 jobs over 10 years. These totals assume federal investments cover 20% of the project costs, with local and private spending making up the rest. In comparison, the original proposed investment of $20 billion in the State Energy Program for retrofitting public (MUSH) buildings would create 525,000 direct, 338,000 indirect, and 475,000 induced jobs for a total of 1,338,000 jobs over 10 years. These totals assume federal investments cover 20% of the project costs, with local and private spending making up the rest.

Clean Water

$45 billion is needed to replace every lead service line in the country; however, the BBBA and IIJA included $25 billion total for this effort. An investment of $45 billion to replace lead service lines would result in 236,250 direct, 152,100 indirect, and 213,750 induced jobs, a total of 602,100 jobs over 10 years.