Senators race to overcome snags in infrastructure deal
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers racing to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal early this week are hitting a major roadblock over how much money should go to public transit, the group’s lead Republican negotiator said Sunday.
As discussions continued through the weekend, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said both sides were “about 90% of the way there” on an agreement.
“We have one issue outstanding, and we’re not getting much response from the Democrats on it,” he said. “It’s about mass transit. Our transit number is very generous.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has said he wants to pass a bipartisan package and an accompanying $3.5 trillion budget plan before the Senate leaves for its August recess.
Democrats want to see more of the money in the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure agreement go toward boosting public transportation, which include subways, light-rail lines and buses, in line with President Joe Biden’s original infrastructure proposal.
The bipartisan group originally appeared to be moving toward agreement on more money for transit before an objection by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees public transit. He cited, in part, previous COVID-19 federal relief money that had already been allocated to public transit.
“Nobody’s talking about cutting transit,” Toomey said Sunday. “The question is, how many tens of billions of dollars on top of the huge increase that they have already gotten is sufficient? And that’s where there is a little disagreement.”
The White House has declined to say whether Biden would push for the additional funding for transit.
“Transit funding is obviously extremely important to the president – the ‘Amtrak President,’ as we may call him,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday. “But we believe that members can get this work done and can work through these issues quite quickly.”
The final package would need the support of 60 senators in the evenly split 50-50 Senate to advance past a filibuster. Last week’s test vote failed along party lines.
Democrats also are seeking to hammer out a compromise to pay for the package after Republicans dashed a plan to boost the IRS to go after tax scofflaws, but Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democratic negotiator in the group, said he remains optimistic about reaching a deal soon.
“We’re down to the last couple of items, and I think you’re going to see a bill Monday afternoon,” Warner said Sunday.
Three rounds totaling nearly $70 billion in federal COVID-19 emergency assistance, including $30.5 billion that Biden signed into law in March, pulled transit agencies from the brink of financial collapse as riders steered clear of crowded spaces on subway cars and buses. That federal aid is expected to cover operating deficits from declining passenger revenue and costly COVID-19 cleaning and safety protocols through at least 2022.
Portman appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” Toomey was on CNN’s “State of the Union” and Warner spoke on “Fox News Sunday.”