Pro-Biden group launches infrastructure ads geared towards small business owners

A political advocacy group with close ties to the White House is launching a series of digital ads that tout President Joe Biden’s plans for small businesses, attempting to build support for his proposed legislative agenda amid ongoing infrastructure negotiations.

The online ads from Building Back Together, a nonprofit group formed this year to promote Biden’s policies, will run in six battleground states: Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida. The group is spending $250,000 on the ads over two weeks, according to an official with the group, who said the message is targeted especially toward women, young people, moderates, and Black and Latino voters.

The ads in each state feature a testimonial from a local small business owner, with some touting the assistance they received from the American Recovery Act — a nearly $2 trillion economic relief bill Biden signed into law in March — or highlighting the help they said they’d receive from the president’s proposed investments in infrastructure and family care.

“President Biden wants to invest in working families, putting people to work, fixing our roads, our bridges, our drinking water,” a small business owner from Pennsylvania says in one of the ads. “That’s what makes a strong economy. We can do it without adding to the deficit or increasing taxes on the middle class or small businesses like mine.”

Some of the ads mention the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan by name, arguing that the legislative proposals will help workers pay for childcare and healthcare while investing in broadband Internet.

Biden is currently negotiating with GOP lawmakers on the jobs plan, trying to bridge large gaps between the two sides on its scope, size, and how it will be paid for. The president has vowed not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 — a point referenced frequently in the ads — while Republicans have said they will not raise taxes on corporations or the country’s wealthiest citizens.

The ads from Building Back Together in five of the states — Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia — will run for 30 seconds each. In Florida, the ads will run for 15 seconds and feature English- and Spanish-language versions.

Building Back Together, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization, is not bound by the contribution caps and donor disclosure rules that govern most political groups. In April, the group announced it would spend millions of dollars on ads promoting Biden’s infrastructure plans.

This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Pro-Biden group launches infrastructure ads geared towards small business owners."