U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the Democrats' proposed tax hike plan, the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better agenda, and the benefits of the infrastructure package for Americans.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: House Democrats have a plan circulating today to raise the corporate tax rate on companies with income of at least $5 million to 26 and 1/2%. Now, that's below President Biden's original proposal of a 28% level.

Let's get some more information on all of this with Gina Raimondo. She is, of course, US Secretary of Commerce. Secretary Raimondo, thank you for being with us this morning.

So as I said, 26 and 1/2% is what we're looking at now for companies that make at least $5 million annually. Is this something that the president can live with, even though it's a bit lower than his original proposal?

GINA RAIMONDO: Good morning. Good morning. The president has been very clear from the beginning that he's open to compromise, and so this is part of the legislative process. I'm sure that, you know, we're going to continue to negotiate, and we'll see exactly where it lands.

The important thing is the president's Build Back Better package is good for business. You know, it makes the investments in job training, infrastructure, broadband, child care that businesses tell me every day they want and need in order to be competitive.

So we're negotiating now in good faith with Capitol Hill. The president himself is very engaged, and we will see where we end up. But the important thing is that these investments happen because they're good for business and good for American families.

JULIE HYMAN: And I know that's an argument you made most recently to a group of business leaders in Cleveland. I was looking through your remarks there about the advantages that you say are going to be in this plan.

As you said, you talk to a lot of business leaders. You talked to those folks in Cleveland. I know that you're close with other executives, the likes of Marc Benioff, for example. What are you hearing from them? Traditionally, businesses don't love higher taxes, right? That's sort of conventional wisdom. But what are you hearing from them in this case?

GINA RAIMONDO: Well, you are correct. People don't love higher taxes, and we don't expect that business would love higher taxes. However, when I talk to business leaders, they are very focused on being competitive, competing on the global stage. And in order to do that, they say-- and I agree. The president agrees-- we need investments. We need a better-trained workforce. We need workers who have digital skills. We need every American to have broadband and to be digitally literate. We need childcare that is affordable.

You know, I hear from businesses all the time that women are not coming back into the workforce or they're offering promotions to women but women are saying they can't take the promotion because they can't find high-quality, affordable childcare. So if we are going to compete-- if American business is going to compete, we need these investments.

And then the question is, how do you pay for them? I don't know any business leader who thinks that it would be responsible of the president to operate this government as if he had a blank check. You know, they don't run their businesses that way. You make investments, and you pay for these investments.

So there's room for negotiation, to be sure, and that's what we're doing now. We're negotiating. But it's crystal clear that this package is good for business and makes investments that will improve businesses' ability to compete.

JULIE HYMAN: And, Secretary, of course you've got negotiations happening in the business community. You have negotiations happening on the Hill, of course, as well. And there, it's going to be thorny, right? You have folks like Senator Joe Manchin who has already talked about that he's not optimistic this is going to get done before the end of September, for example. How do you get this passed?

GINA RAIMONDO: You work at it every day. No, every-- this is all part of the process. This is the way every major piece of legislation happens. It's part of the process. You work it through. You compromise.

But from our perspective, President Biden and us, his team, are committed to staying at the table to get this done. The American people need us to get this done. We've kicked the can down the road on these investments for too long, which is why our roads and bridges are crumbling, which is why a third of Americans who live in rural areas don't have broadband, which is why we don't have, you know, affordable pre-K for every American child. So it's time. Let's meet the moment. Let's compromise, and let's make these investments.

JULIE HYMAN: And, Secretary, on a related note and something you alluded to has to do with reskilling workers, something that's also a part of the plan. Somewhat unusually for a commerce secretary, this has really been an area of focus for you. And as we know, employers added 235,000 workers in August. That was much lower than estimated number. The most recent job-openings numbers that we have from July show 10.9 million openings. That's a record. How much do you think reskilling can go toward closing that gap?

GINA RAIMONDO: Significantly. It is significant. We have Americans who are smart and want to work. We have employers who can't find people to fill the open jobs, and the primary reason is there's a skills mismatch.

So right now there's a half a million cyber-technician jobs available in America. And if you talk to business, they say we just can't find folks with cyber skills. We can't find folks with digital skills, cloud-computing skills, digital-backbone skills. So, you know, the economy is changing at an incredibly fast rate as we move towards a more digital, tech economy, and so we have to make sure that Americans have those skills.

This is an area I have a lot of experience with. I focused heavily on it in my time as governor, successfully. And I learned that in order to be successful, business has to be at the center of the job training. It can't be an afterthought. You have to start with demand. What do businesses demand and need? Who will they hire? And then create the job training initiatives to meet the demand.

So I'm-- you know, the president believes strongly in this. The secretary of labor and I are working closely on it. And businesses tell me every day, you know, help us find the skilled workers that we need to fill these spots.

JULIE HYMAN: And it really comes back to, to me, something that you mentioned earlier, which is being competitive on the world stage. Whether it's the skills gap, whether it's paid parental leave, whether it's universal pre-K, are you hearing-- do business leaders in America feel that they are at a disadvantage because there are not these kinds of policies? I mean, certainly on an individual level, they can be implementing some of these measures, but do they feel like the US government needs to be their partner in this?

GINA RAIMONDO: Yes, absolutely, and they are disadvantaged. You know, the Build Back Better agenda of the president's calls for much greater investments in basic research. If we're going to be competitive and lead, we need to increase our investment in technology and innovation. Same thing for job training. Same thing for childcare. You know, same thing for affordable health care.

Supply chains-- we are all struggling with disruptions in supply chains right now, most particularly semiconductors. President's package is calling for a $50 billion investment to shore up our semiconductor supply chain. That is unquestionably good for business. And if we don't make that investment, businesses will not be able to compete on a global stage.

So as we said, we'll go through this process. There is room for compromise. We're making great progress. I should say we-- I am confident we will get there. But these investments are necessary in order for American businesses to compete, and it's just the right thing to do for American families.

JULIE HYMAN: Secretary Raimondo, thank you so much for taking some time out to speak with us here this morning. I know it is a tough slog in Washington to get this-- to get this bill through.

Gina Raimondo is the US secretary of commerce. Thanks again. Appreciate it.

GINA RAIMONDO: Thank you.