Building bill gains steam
Infrastructure package emerges as next priority in Washington
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday pledged swift work by Congress on a job and infrastructure package that will be “fiscally sound,” but acknowledged she wasn’t sure whether the next major item on President Biden’s agenda will attract Republican backing.
“This is about broadband. It’s about water systems. It’s about mass transit, it’s about good paying jobs all over the country,” said Pelosi, D-Calif.. “It’s also about schools and housing and the rest. … So the goal is to promote good growth, creating goodpaying jobs as we protect our planet and are fiscally sound.”
Road- and bridge-building legislation has a long history of support from both parties as lawmakers aim to deliver on projects back home. But Republicans disagree with Biden’s focus on the environment and the possibility of financing any program with debt after the government borrowed heavily to address the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Nonetheless, hopefully, we will have bipartisanship,” Pelosi said. Pelosi has directed key Democratic lawmakers to begin working with Republicans on a “big, bold and transformational infrastructure package.”
Biden laid the groundwork by proposing $2 trillion in “accelerated” investments to shift to cleaner energy, build half a million charging stations for electric vehicles, support public transit and repair roads and bridges. The plan emphasizes the importance of creating unionized jobs and addressing climate change.
The White House originally planned to come out with a plan in February, but more recently hasn’t committed to a timeline. A rollout is likely to slide into April.
But passing infrastructure legislation in a Senate split 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris providing a tiebreaking vote will probably prove more difficult than with the recent COVID-19 relief bill. Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., recently made clear he will block infrastructure legislation if Republicans aren’t included.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate
Republican, said he wants to see bipartisan support for an infrastructure legislation. But he said the House in the last Congress modified a Senate-passed $287 billion bill in a way that Republicans could not accept.
“We got it to the House, and what did the House do? They replaced our highway bill with the Green New Deal,” Barrasso said. “So they ignored what we have done in a bipartisan way. If they would take the model that we came up with in the committee in the Senate for highway and transportation, I think that’s a very good start. I talked with the secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, about it, and I think that is the model on which we should move forward on transportation and infrastructure.”