Members of the Biden administration were out in force on Wednesday, traveling to various corners of the United States to drum up support for the president's proposed spending bills, the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan. 

Combined, the two proposals total nearly $4 trillion, and would fund projects ranging from rebuilding the nation’s roads and bridges to offering four more years of free education to the American public.


What You Need To Know

  • Members of the Biden administration are traveling across the country to pitch the White House's new American Families Plan and American Jobs Plan 

  • The American Jobs Plan is Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill; the American Families Plan is a $1.8 trillion investment which includes free community college and universal preschool

  • Vice President Kamala Harris and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo discussed how the American Jobs Plan would support women and small businesses during a trip to Rhode Island 

  • On Wednesday evening, first lady Jill Biden spoke at a Salt Lake City school as the U.S. makes uneven progress toward reopening classrooms

Vice President Kamala Harris joined commerce secretary Gina Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island, in her home state on Wednesday, touching mainly on how the American Jobs Plan would support women and small businesses across the country.

Vice President Kamala Harris poses for a photo after a roundtable with women-led small business owners Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

“When I think of our small business leaders, I think not only of business leaders but civic leaders, community leaders,” Harris said to a group of entrepreneurs at Social Enterprise Greenhouse, a small business incubator based in Providence. “It is you who are involved and engaged in the community, a reflection of the best of the community.” 

The American Jobs Plan, a $2.3 trillion package focusing on broadly-defined infrastructure priorities, would allocate $110 billion for a variety of programs that benefit small businesses, including “financing and technical assistance programs,” per the White House. 

Raimondo in turn praised Harris’ commitment to the proposal, saying the vice president “gets business, she gets small business and she’s passionate about being here.”

Raimondo and Harris later attended a business roundtable led by women at the Providence Innovation Center, where the vice president said the “exodus of women from the workforce really is an emergency.” 

According to an analysis from the National Women’s Law Center, nearly 2.2 million women have left the workforce since February of last year, with Black and Latina communities representing a disproportionate amount of those exits.  

recent study by consulting firm McKinsey & Company suggests that women account for nearly 56% of workforce exits since the start of the pandemic, despite only making up approximately 48% of the overall workforce. A separate study conducted by Pew Research between February and August of last year found that mothers of children 12 years old and younger were three times as likely to lose work than fathers of children the same age.

Harris stressed the need to address the “longstanding failures” of the U.S. economy when attempting to get people back in the workforce, saying women often face more barriers because they tend to be caregivers to children and elderly family members more often than men.

Doug Emhoff, right, listens to Mike Manning of the Colony Meadery during a tour of the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center, a small business incubator, Wednesday, May 5 ,2021 in Allentown, Pa. (Ed Jones/ Pool via AP)

Several hundred miles away, second gentleman Doug Emhoff touched on similar aspects of the American Jobs Plan in Pennsylvania, and toured both LightLab International LLC and Colony Meadery in Allentown. 

There, Emhoff met with Greg Heller-LaBelle and Mike Manning, co-owners of Colony Meadery and recipients of two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Thanks to the funding from the program, they said, the establishment was able to stay partially open, although health and safety restrictions forced their tasting room to close. 

But as more Americans get vaccinated across the country, Heller-LaBelle and Manning are confident their clients will start the return in force. 

"You see the connections between small businesses and vaccinations,” Emhoff agreed. “It's all interconnected.” 

Later on, Emhoff assured other small business owners that he will relay their concerns both to Harris and other senior members of the Biden administration. 

"This isn't just a chit chat. We take these things seriously," he said.

First lady Jill Biden waves as she arrives in Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (Carlos Barria/Pool via AP)

First Lady Jill Biden touched down in Utah on Wednesday, where she made a multi-stop tour that included a visit to a middle school ukulele club and a pop-up vaccination clinic. 

Dr. Biden, a teacher herself, stopped at Glendale Middle School, which has a diverse student body and returned to in-person instruction a few months ago. The stop is part of a swing through the U.S. West that also includes Nevada and Colorado.

The visit came during Teacher Appreciation Week, and the first lady took the chance to thank assembled educators for their ongoing efforts to help students during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“There have been losses that we will never get back: Loss of time with each other, loss of learning, and the loss of so many,” Dr. Biden said. “But the best gifts that we can give to show our appreciation for everything that you do, does not come from a store, it's giving you what you need to be your best, investing in you.” 

“Your president knows that,” she added. "After all, he's married to me. Joe believes that there is no greater investment we can make than in education.” 

Biden’s American Families Plan would provide Americans with four additional years of free education, as it allocates $109 billion for two years of free community college; the plan also includes $200 billion to provide free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds. 

Following her visit to Glendale Middle School, Dr. Biden visited a mobile vaccination site at Jordan Park, where she was greeted with a sign that read, “Love U Jill and Joe.”

“It feels like we have hope again,” she said of the rate of vaccinations across the country, telling those working at the pop-up site: “Thank you for leading the charge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.