Biden team readies big infrastructure package
WASHINGTON — Looking beyond the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for another top legislative priority: a longsought boost to the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could run into Republican resistance to a hefty price tag.
Biden and his team have begun discussions on the possible outlines of an infrastructure package with members of Congress, particularly mindful that Texas’ recent struggles with power outages and water shortages after a brutal winter storm present an opportunity for agreement on sustained spending on infrastructure.
Gina Mccarthy, Biden’s national climate adviser, said the deadly winter storm in Texas should be a “wake-up call” for the need for energy systems and other infrastructure that are more reliable and resilient.
“The infrastructure is not built to withstand these extreme weather conditions,” said Liz Sherwoodrandall, a homeland security aide to the president. “We know that we can’t just react to extreme weather events. We need to plan for them and prepare for them.”
A White House proposal could come this month.
“Now is the time to be aggressive,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who knows potholes.
Much of America’s infrastructure — roads, bridges, public drinking and water systems, dams, airports, mass transit systems and more — is in need of major restoration after years of underfunding, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. In its 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, it gave the national infrastructure an overall grade of D+.
Both chambers of Congress will use as starting points their unsuccessful efforts to get bills through the last session.
Democrats passed a $1.5 trillion package in the House last year, but it went nowhere with the Trump administration and the Republican-led Senate. A Senate panel approved narrower bipartisan legislation in 2019 focused on reauthorizing federal transportation programs. It, too, flamed out.
Biden has talked bigger numbers, and some Democrats are urging him to bypass Republicans in the closely divided Congress to address a broader range of priorities urged by interest groups.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, IVT., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, recently told the White House that he’s ready to use the budget maneuver known as reconciliation to pass a broad economic recovery package with only Democratic votes. That drew stern warnings from Republicans who have already closed ranks against Democrats’ COVID-19 relief bill.
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said there’s bipartisan support for ambitious steps on infrastructure. But that “should not extend to a multitrillion-dollar package that is stocked full with other ideologically driven, one-size-fits-all policies that tie the hands of our states and our communities,” she said.
Capito will be helping to craft bipartisan legislation on the Senate side.
Rep. Peter Defazio, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he foresees a comprehensive House package that will go beyond roads, bridges and public transit.
He also expects it to have money for water systems, broadband and the power grid — addressing a weak infrastructure laid bare after the crippling blackouts in Texas.