Q&A with Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)

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U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Michael Bennet has represented Colorado in the United States Senate since 2009. Recognized as a pragmatic and independent thinker, he is driven by an obligation to create more opportunity for the next generation. Michael has built a reputation of taking on Washington dysfunction and working with Republicans and Democrats to address our nation’s greatest challenges— including education, climate change, immigration, health care, and national security. Before serving in the Senate, Michael worked to restructure failing businesses and helped create the world’s largest movie theater chain. As superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, he led one of the most extensive reform efforts in the country, resulting in substantial, sustained academic improvement for Denver’s children. He lives in Denver with his wife and three daughters.

www.bennet.senate.gov | @SenatorBennet

BDA:

The bipartisan infrastructure framework, a transformative investment into our nation’s lagging infrastructure, was signed into law late last year. Beyond the municipal bond provisions, what are some key aspects of the bill Members of the BDA should be aware of?

Senator Bennet:

After decades of calls to restore our nation’s aging infrastructure, the November 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) finally put words into action. The new law will build and repair our nation’s roads, bridges, airports, and rail lines; upgrade our power infrastructure; and ensure communities have access to clean drinking water.

The law also updates our concept of infrastructure to fit the 21st century. To take just two examples, IIJA contains the largest-ever investment in affordable, high-speed broadband, modeled on my bipartisan BRIDGE Act with Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). This $65 billion investment turns the page on decades of federal policy that has subsidized the deployment of slow, outdated networks in many rural and mountain communities, relegating them to sub-standard service that stifles opportunity. And the bipartisan law provides a down payment on preventing and mitigating the effects of climate change. For instance, it includes the bipartisan REPLANT Act to help the U.S. Forest Service plant 1.2 billion trees, restoring our nation’s forests following years of devastating wildfires in Colorado and other states.

In the coming years, we’re going to see IIJA’s investments substantially boost productivity for our nation’s businesses and workers, spur greater economic growth, and create millions of good-paying jobs.

BDA:

As a sponsor of multiple municipal bond focused bills including the creation of a new direct-pay bond and the reinstatement of tax-exempt advance refundings, where do these key pieces of legislation stand in the Senate and beyond the Build Back Better reconciliation package, do you foresee additional opportunities in 2022 for these provisions to advance?

Senator Bennet:

Municipal financing tools have a critical role to play in ensuring our nation is competitive in the 21st century economy, as well as facilitating our long-term rebuilding from the COVID-19 crisis. That’s why I pushed for the president’s infrastructure bills to include the American Infrastructure Bonds (AIBs) Act, my bill with Senator Wicker (R-Miss.) to create a new class of direct-pay bonds, as well as the LOCAL Infrastructure Act, which would reinstate advance refunding.

While I’m disappointed these two bills ultimately fell out of consideration as the legislation was downsized, the bipartisan infrastructure process showcased the broad support from lawmakers and strong demand from stakeholders for both direct-pay bonds and advance refunding. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle now understand that AIBs, while originally inspired by the Build America Bonds (BABs) of 2009, are a significant improvement because they are protected against sequestration. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to find opportunities to move these priorities forward on a bipartisan basis in the coming year.

BDA:

As a Member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, what have been the Senators’ top priorities for this Congress? How does your background in the financial sector direct your legislating in the Committee? What do you expect the Committee’s priorities to be in 2022?

Senator Bennet:

My Finance Committee colleagues and I have been laser-focused on helping small businesses and working families not only recover from the COVID-19 crisis, but bounce back stronger than before. We’ve made historic investments through the American Rescue Plan and the IIJA to help employers keep their doors open and build the modernized infrastructure communities need to succeed.

But to create an economy that works for all of us—not just the wealthy—we also need structural changes that help families lower costs, return to and remain in the workforce, and provide opportunities for their children. That includes affordable child care, lowering health care and prescription drug prices, and taking urgently needed action on climate change. I am also pushing to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) from the American Rescue Plan, which I have championed for years alongside Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). The expanded CTC has provided monthly payments to 61 million kids over the past six months—including more than 1 million kids in Colorado—helping their families cover groceries, rent, and school supplies. I believe we can and should pay in full for these important priorities, including by ensuring the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their fair share in taxes.

BDA:

From an outside perspective, it seems that politics and policy in DC continues to become more and more partisan. How does the atmosphere compare to when you were first elected and what is your outlook for the 2022 elections in the Senate?

Senator Bennet:

The American people, including the Coloradans who have sent me to Congress since 2010, want us to work across the aisle. The bipartisan infrastructure law is evidence that such work is possible, and municipal finance is a particularly fruitful area for bipartisan collaboration. Every community—whether red, blue, or purple—needs roads, pipelines, water, telecom systems, and schools, and I will continue to work with Senator Wicker and other colleagues to ensure state and local governments have the tools they need to make these critical investments.

BDA:

You’ve had an incredible career of public service, from serving in the Clinton Administration, to years in local politics, to now running for a third term in the Senate representing the State of Colorado. What influenced you to pursue public service? And what needs to be done to attract a new generation of candidates in the current environment?

Senator Bennet:

I was inspired to public service by my mom and her parents. They were Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust. After the war, they had lost everything except each other. After spending time in Stockholm and Mexico City, they came to the United States to rebuild their shattered lives—and they did. They loved this country, not because it was perfect, but because they had the opportunity to make it better through our democracy. I want America to live up to their high expectations as a beacon to the world of opportunity, freedom, self-government, and the rule of law. But if we’re honest, we aren’t living up to those expectations today. I can understand why that would discourage a lot of people from getting into politics. But to me, the dysfunction in Washington isn’t a reason to throw up our hands and walk away. It’s an invitation to roll up our sleeves and get to work, because in a democracy there’s no one else to do that work. As corrupt and broken as the federal government is today in many ways, only we can fix it.