Vice President Joe Biden, in Columbia, pushes $478 billion federal spending plan for roads

Vice President Joe Biden stopped in Columbia on Wednesday to tout federal legislation that would pump nearly $500 billion into transportation infrastructure and workforce development.

The Democrat appeared with U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, and Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin at Owen Steel.

Touting the “Grow America Act” – a $478 billion spending plan that would span six years – Biden said the United States ranks 28th in the world in infrastructure investment. “We shouldn’t rank 28th in the world in anything that needs to be done for a country.”

Biden cited the bottlenecked intersection of Interstates 20 and 26 in Columbia, known as “malfunction junction,” is one of the worst interchanges in the country. Four times the volume of traffic is going through the interchange now compared to 1969, he said.

Owen Steel, a Columbia-based steel manufacturer founded in 1936 that now supplies steel to building projects around the country, estimates the intersection, which transportation planners want to replace, adds an hour-long delay for the products that it ships, Biden said.

“It’s a one-hour delay for every other outfit in the region trying to get through,” Biden said. “That’s real money.”

The administration is pushing the “Grow America Act” as its proposal to extend authorization for federal transportation spending, an area where there is hope that congressional Democrats and Republicans could compromise.

Biden said lowering the corporate income tax to 28 percent from 35 percent and closing loopholes that allow some companies to escape some of those taxes would help pay for the infrastructure plan, generating $200 billion for roads.

Former Charlotte Mayor Foxx is on a tour of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., to promote the infrastructure bill. Biden joined Foxx for three stops in the Carolinas, including Charleston Wednesday to tout port developments.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Vice President Joe Biden, in Columbia, pushes $478 billion federal spending plan for roads ."