President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law on Monday, November 15, 2021. While the bill primarily focuses on the nation’s physical infrastructure, small business owners need to know what it means for them.
The most significant impact for small businesses may be the Employee Retention Tax Credit ending, which was part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA). The tax credit has provided financial relief to businesses with fewer than 500 employees that were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because most companies are operational again, the ERTC retroactively ended on September 30, 2021.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill could benefit the job market for small businesses ranging from construction firms to the energy and telecommunications industries. It also provides funding for energy efficiency upgrades and manufacturing modernization and grants for workforce training, which small businesses can access. Nextep will continue to monitor details impacting smaller companies.
Here’s a look at the details of the $1.75 trillion infrastructure bill:
Transportation
- Roads, bridges, major projects: $110 billion
- Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion
- Public transit: $39 billion
- Airports: $25 billion
- Port infrastructure: $17 billion
- Transportation safety programs: $11 billion
- Electric vehicles: $7.5 billion
- Zero and low-emission buses and ferries: $7.5 billion
- Revitalization of communities: $1 billion
Other infrastructure
- Broadband internet: $65 billion
- Power infrastructure: $73 billion
- Clean drinking water: $55 billion
- Resilience and Western water storage: $50 billion
- Removal of pollution from water and soil: $21 billion
