Since the Coronavirus Pandemic, small businesses are in desperate need of federal financial assistance. I will offer a Senate bill within my first year to appropriately fund small businesses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This Senate bill will ask for an additional $500 billion to help struggling small businesses and to prevent any more small businesses from having to file bankruptcy. The Senate bill will define a small business as a business with an annual income of under $5 million per year.
As a board member on the Louisiana Housing Corporation, I understand firsthand the need for affordable housing in Louisiana and throughout the United States. I will offer a Senate bill within my first year to establish additional commercial fees on new commercial developments based on the need for housing generated by new and expanding businesses. Revenue generated by the fees will be used to help fund the development of affordable housing. Also, this Senate bill will increase federal funding to states to increase affordable housing development projects and reduce homelessness.
America's infrastructure is in desperate need of investment, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. The ASCE estimates the United States needs to spend some $4.5 trillion by 2025 to fix the country's roads, bridges, dams, levees and other infrastructure. I will offer a Senate bill within my first year for $2 trillion to improve our D+ infrastructure that will generate millions of jobs to jump start America's economy.
College tuition has outpaced inflation for years with over $1.4 trillion in student debt. I will offer a Senate bill within my first year to make state colleges and universities tuition free, if the student graduates with a 3.0 GPA or higher within 4 years or less. To fund this, this bill will raise taxes on all businesses and corporations making over $100 million a year. Also, the federal government will reduce interest rates by half on all college student loans that graduate within 4 years or less with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
