Here’s what’s in the bipartisan infrastructure bill
The full bill text has not yet been released, but in total, the deal includes $550 billion in new federal investments in America’s infrastructure.
Still, Biden touted the new deal Wednesday.
“This deal makes key investments to put people to work all across the country — in cities, small towns, rural communities, and across our coastlines and plains,” he said.
Changes can still be made before the bill is voted on. The Senate could make amendments to the text and then it must be sent to the House for approval before making its way to the President’s desk.
Here’s what we know so far about the latest version of the agreement, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House:
Funding for roads and bridges
The deal also contains $17.5 billion for major projects that would be too large or complex for traditional funding programs.
Some 20%, or 173,000 miles, of the nation’s highways and major roads are in poor condition, as are 45,000 bridges, according to the White House.
The investments would focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians.
Also included in the package is $11 billion for transportation safety, including a program to help states and localities reduce crashes and fatalities, especially of cyclists and pedestrians. It would direct funding to highway, truck and pipelines and hazardous materials safety efforts.
Money for transit and rail
The package would provide $39 billion to modernize public transit and improve accessibility for the elderly and the disabled, less than the $49 billion contained in the earlier bipartisan deal and the $85 billion that Biden initially wanted to invest in modernizing transit systems and help them expand to meet rider demand.
The funds would repair and upgrade existing infrastructure, make stations accessible to all users, bring transit service to new communities and modernize rail and bus fleets, including replacing thousands of vehicles with zero-emission models.
The deal would also invest $66 billion in rail to eliminate Amtrak’s maintenance backlog, modernize the Northeast Corridor line and bring rail service to areas outside the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Included in the package is $12 billion in partnership grants for intercity rail service, including high-speed rail.
The funding is the same as in bipartisan framework but less than the $80 billion Biden originally wanted to send to Amtrak, which he relied upon for decades to get home to Delaware from Washington, DC.
It would be the largest federal investment in public transit in history and in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak 50 years ago, according to the White House.
Broadband upgrade
Biden initially wanted to invest $100 billion in broadband.
It also aims to help lower the price households pay for internet service by requiring federal funding recipients to offer a low-cost affordable plan, by creating price transparency and by boosting competition in areas where existing providers aren’t providing adequate service. It would also create a permanent federal program to help more low-income households access the internet, according to the White House fact sheet.
Upgrading airports, ports and waterways
The deal would invest $17 billion in port infrastructure and $25 billion in airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports and promote electrification and other low-carbon technologies.
It is similar to the funding in the bipartisan deal and Biden’s original proposal.
Electric vehicles
The bill would provide $7.5 billion for zero- and low-emission buses and ferries, aiming to deliver thousands of electric school buses to districts across the country.
Another $7.5 billion would go to building a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers.
Improving power and water systems
The bill would invest $73 billion in the nation’s power structure, to build thousands of miles of new power lines and expand renewable energy.
It would provide $55 billion to upgrade water infrastructure, replacing lead service lines and pipes so that communities have access to clean drinking water. Another $50 billion would go towards making the system more resilient — protecting it from drought, floods and cyber attacks.
Environmental remediation
The bill would provide $21 billion to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land and cap orphaned gas wells.
How Congress will pay for it
The fact sheet provided by the White House did not include many details about how the spending would be paid for.
It said that some unspent Covid relief funds would be redirected toward the infrastructure bill. Also, it would implement some targeted corporate user fees and raise money by strengthening tax enforcement on crypto currencies.
Biden said in a statement that the bill won’t raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year and does not include a gas tax increase or fee on electric vehicles.
