Connecticut to get $6 billion from infrastructure bill
Connecticut is slated to receive $6 billion in transportation improvements and internet access from the infrastructure package passed by the House of Representatives late Friday.
The $1 trillion package, officially called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was approved 228-206. Thirteen Republicans supported the legislation while six Democrats voted “no,” according to the Associated Press.
“And that’s a wrap! Something like $6 billion for Connecticut roads, bridges, rails and broadband,” U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, tweeted a little before 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called the bill “historic” and said it’s a “gigantic breakthrough.”
“This vital legislation will deliver truly transformative results for CT & the entire country,” he said in a tweet late Friday.
“Thanks to this bill’s robust investments, we will bring our transportation systems into the 21st century, create millions of good-paying jobs and better compete in the global economy long into the future,” Blumenthal said.
Gov. Ned Lamont called the package’s passage a big deal. In Connecticut, “We’ll see commuting times speed up, new good paying jobs and economic growth,” he said.
A portion of the package — about $30 billion — is going toward the Northeast Rail Corridor, which will make it faster for residents to get from New Haven to New York City, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a video put on Twitter.
Murphy said the bill will “give us a chance to rebuild the rail line from Boston to Washington — the busiest ... in the nation.”
Connecticut will get $3.5 billion to improve the state’s highway system, including the redesign of the Interstate 84 and Interstate 91 intersection in Hartford.
“It’s not going to be Connecticut taxpayers alone that’s going to bear the burden of that now that we have significant federal funding coming to help us with highways,” Murphy said.
Some $1.3 billion will go toward improving the state’s public transportation, including buses.
Murphy added that the bill will “create new jobs, finally fix our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and deliver serious cost savings to Americans.”
The bill also promises the state will receive $561 million for bridge replacements and repairs. According to Murphy, Connecticut has more than 300 bridges that are considered “structurally deficient,” or that are at risk of falling down.
The U.S. Coast Guard will receive $489 million, which will help revamp a dorm building at the Coast Guard Academy and build a pier in New London where the USS Eagle will land, according to Murphy.
An additional $106 million is going toward Long Island Sound to clean up the water and revitalize the shoreline to protect the region from storms, Murphy said.
Murphy also got his Buy American bill included in the package, which will allow local manufacturers to apply for federal government work “before it gets sent overseas,” Murphy said.
Blumenthal said “our work doesn’t end here,” though. He urged Congress to pass legislation to cut prescription drug costs, reduce taxes, fight climate change, provide universal preschool, affordable child care and expanded health care.
The 10-year, $1.85 trillion measure bolstering health, family and climate change programs was sidetracked after moderates demanded a cost estimate on the measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The postponement dashed hopes that the day would produce a doublebarreled win for Biden with passage of both bills.
But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, five moderates agreed to back that bill if the budget office’s estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement, in which lawmakers promised to vote on the social and environment bill by the week of Nov. 15, was a significant step toward a House vote that could ultimately ship it to the Senate.
Much of the package’s cost would be covered with higher taxes on wealthier Americans and large corporations.