Nick Begich Opposed The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act, Which Brought $3 Billion To Alaska In A Year

Begich Opposed The Infrastructure And Jobs Act. Moderator: “Do you support the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act from November 2021?” In response, Begich held up a sign reading, “No.” [YouTube, Anchorage Daily News, [24:26], 8/31/22] (VIDEO)

• Begich Called For Extending The Federal Infrastructure Spending Included In ‘The Infrastructure Bill.’ Begich: “Well, the worker shortage has been and will continue to be

exacerbated by the federal infrastructure’s overspending. Federal, state, and local governments already spent half a trillion dollars a year annually on infrastructure, but the additional spending that has been unlocked threatens to re-prioritize local spending priorities and exacerbate the worker shortage. I think we need to extend the infrastructure bill spending so it doesn’t have such a negative effect on the real economy, on the worker shortage, and that it’s not inflationary to local industry.” [YouTube, Anchorage Daily News, [12:25], 8/31/22] (VIDEO)

Begich Criticized The $1.2 Trillion Federal Infrastructure Bill Because ‘Alaska Got Less Than 1% Of The Bill.’ “Republican House candidate Nick Begich the Third is also borrowing from the Political Math For Dummies handbook in claiming a per-acre basis is the way to decide what is fair. They are claiming that because Alaska has nearly one-fifth of the land mass of the U.S., it should get nearly one-fifth of federal spending.’Alaska got less than 1% of the bill,’ Begich the Third told the Juneau Empire. ‘Alaska got shortchanged in the bill.’ ‘On a per-acre basis we got the least of anyone,’ Begich III said.” [Dermot Cole, Reporting From Alaska, 10/29/22]

Begich Emphasized Restraint In Infrastructure Spending, And Referred To Federal Spending As Separate From The “Real Economy”

Begich Emphasized Restraint In Infrastructure Spending, And Referred To Federal Spending As Separate From The ‘Real Economy.’ “As a Congress, we have a sacred responsibility to ensure that funds deployed to infrastructure are invested wisely and in ways that produce a clear and compelling return to the American taxpayer. We must be careful to ensure that such investments do not distort the real economy, displace pre-existing priorities by reprioritizing limited sources of labor or materials, and consider a maintenance model that sustains the initial investment over its useful life. As a supporter of hard infrastructure investments, I believe we must continue to prioritize funding that will allow Alaska to deliver on its important national roles, including food security through our fisheries, national security, energy security, and minerals security.” [Juneau Empire, 8/12/22]

Self-Proclaimed “Hard-Infrastructure” Supporter Begich Argued That The Infrastructure Bill Contained Too Much “Wasteful Spending”

Begich Opposed The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act, Calling It “Wasteful Spending.” “Begich cited the recent $1.3 trillion infrastructure bill, which he said had enormous amounts of wasteful spending that would burden future generations by increasing the national debt. Alaska received benefits from the bill, Begich said, but there was a missed opportunity to make Alaska the leading edge of future energy transition.” [Juneau Empire, 12/1/21]

Begich Claimed He Opposed The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act Because It Gave Alaska Less Than 1% Of The Bill- But Alaska Only Had 0.2% Of The US Population. “Alaska got less than 1% of the bill,” Begich III told the Juneau Empire. “Alaska got shortchanged in the bill.” While Alaska had 0.2% of the US population, the Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act would have allocated 0.6% of the funding to Alaska. Begich and Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka argued that Alaska should receive 18% of the funding in the Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act because the state comprised 18% of the landmass in the US. [Reporting From Alaska, 10/27/22]

• Alaska Had Received The Highest Per-Capita Funding Of Any State From The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act. “This was the largest infrastructure investment in 70 years. We are receiving more per-capita funding than any other state, which is a testament to the effectiveness of our current congressional delegation.” [Anchorage Daily News, 12/20/23]

2022: Begich Implied He Supported The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act, But Expressed Concern That Funding Wasn’t Focused On “Hard” Or “Long Term” Infrastructure Projects. “I am strongly supportive of real, hard infrastructure for Alaska. While this bill contained within it a number of green-new-deal styled provisions, the funds have now been authorized and are being appropriated. For Alaska to maximize the benefits of the bill, we must make certain that those projects which it funds have key components: they focus on hard infrastructure; they are long term; and they provide a maintenance model that ensures the investment is properly supported over its useful life. As Americans we have a responsibility to ourselves and to future generations to maximize the benefit of our investments in ways that provide a positive return to our citizens. Poor investment decisions are ultimately paid for in the form of higher taxes or the hidden tax of inflation. I have great concerns over the level of spending introduced by this and similar bills and will work in the Congress to ensure that investments made by the American people are of high quality.” [Alaska Public Media, 8/10/22]

• Begich Claimed To Be A Supporter Of “Hard Infrastructure Projects.” “As a Congress, we have a sacred responsibility to ensure that funds deployed to infrastructure are invested wisely and in ways that produce a clear and compelling return to the American taxpayer. […] As a supporter of hard infrastructure investments, I believe we must continue to prioritize funding that will allow Alaska to deliver on its important national roles, including food security through our fisheries, national security, energy security, and minerals security. [Juneau Empire, 8/12/22]
• Begich Said, “We Do Need Investments In Infrastructure Absolutely, But So Much Of This Is Not Used For Hard Infrastructure, It’s Waste.” BEGICH: “I mean a lot of people say oh that’s so wonderful, look at all the projects and look at all this money. Look, we do need investments in infrastructure absolutely, but so much of this is not used for hard infrastructure. It’s waste. It’s huge amounts of government waste.” [YouTube, Michael Dukes Show, 1:48:36-1:48:52, 7/8/24] (VIDEO)

Begich Claimed Schools Should “Tighten Their Belts” On Infrastructure Expenditures Because Teachers “Drive Learning Outcomes.” “My bias is for teachers, not for infrastructure. We have teachers in this town that drive learning outcomes for our students. I think we’ve got some fantastic facilities but when faced with the budget challenges that we all know exists you know we’re going to have to we’re going to have to tighten the belt a little bit on some of those types of investments and in order to retain the the high-quality teachers.” [KTVA Newa, 3/25/16]

The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act, In Conjunction With Other Biden Administration Bills, Brought $8.8 Billion In Funding, 28,000 Jobs, And Clean Water To Alaska’s Indigenous And Rural Communities

The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act Funded The Tribal Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Project, Which Worked To Improve Water Systems For Alaska Native Communities. “Tribal Water and Sanitation Infrastructure: The Indian Health Service (IHS) announced allocation decisions for $700 million to support crucial sanitation projects that will result in substantial improvements to clean water and sanitation systems in American Indian and Alaska Native communities across the country. IHS will allocate $700 million in each fiscal year from FY 2022 through FY 2026, for a total of $3.5 billion for the IHS Sanitation Facilities Construction Program.” [White House, 11/15/22]

Biden Administration Policies Brought $8.8 Billion In Infrastructure Investments To Alaska. “$8.8 Billion in public investments in clean energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing under the Biden-Harris Administration.” [White House, 7/1/24]

28,800 New Jobs Were Created In Alaska Under The Biden Administration. “4.5% unemployment rate with 28.8 thousand new jobs created under the Biden Administration.” [White House, 7/1/24]

The Biden Administration Nearly Doubled The Amount Of Federal Funding That Trump Brought To Alaska. “During the three years of the Biden administration Alaska has received $65.9 billion in investment through federal spending. In the entirety of the Trump administration, this investment totaled $36.2 billion. These recent investments reflect the belief of our government that Alaska is vitally important to the geopolitical and economic future of the country. [Anchorage Daily News, 12/22/]

Every Member Of The Alaskan Delegation Supported The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act

Murkowski, Sullivan, And Young Supported The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act, Which Brought $3 Billion To Alaska In A Year. “The $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law that Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan and the late Rep. Don Young crossed party lines to support a year ago has already brought nearly $3 billion to Alaska.” [Reporting From Alaska, 10/27/22]

Begich Said Don Young Had “No Fiscal Discipline” In Reference To The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act. “Don Young has rarely seen a spending program that he doesn’t like,” Begich told the Empire in a phone interview Wednesday. “There’s just been no fiscal discipline.”[…]“Seniority counts only if you show up to do the job,” Begich said. “Don Young is saying through his actions that he can’t do the job and he’s ready for a change.” [Juneau Empire, 12/1/21]

• Young “Showed Begich The Ropes” In DC By Offering Him An Internship In Washington DC. “Young agreed to show Begich the ropes in Washington last year so he could decide whether to run, Begich told E&E News this week.The internship, which Begich describes as a way for him to get temporary access to Young’s office, afforded the aspiring lawmaker a glossy badge and coveted access to the corridors of the U.S. Capitol. Begich”asked Don Young to join our office & shadow the Dean to learn how Congress works,” Brown wrote. “Begich was planning on primarying Young all along. He used DY & staff to secure inside info.” [E&E News, 10/28/22]
• 2022: Don Young Slammed Begich, Saying He Was Not Loyal Or Honest. “‘I hired that young man [Begich] to show him the ropes, run for the job, don’t run against me […] it’s not loyalty, nor is it honest […] That’s a person I don’t want to serve me in Congress,’ Young said.” [Juneau Empire, 10/27/22]