On August 10th the Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill intended to invest into America’s economy and roadways. The approval on the 2, 702-page bill came after months of negotiations and deficit concerns. This past Monday, President Biden signed the new bill into law.
The Infrastructure Bill
After passing congress in a 69-30 vote, the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill was later signed into law by President Joe Biden— providing one of the biggest investments in infrastructure in over a decade.
The bill is said to encompass physical structures such as roads, bridges, waterways, and airports. And it includes around $550 billion in new spending, as well as $450 billion in previously approved infrastructure investments.
The idea behind the bills’ spending allocations is to combine the urgent need to fix the country’s deteriorating infrastructure while also tackling long-term goals such as climate change. That’s not all, the hope is that a sequel of the bill will be proposed in later years.
Regardless, the Congressional Budget Office still fears that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill would increase federal budget deficits. This assessment, however, was rejected by negotiators who argue that the CBO did not adequately consider the revenue the bill would generate.
Estimated Benefits
Aside from greatly improving America’s infrastructure system, another major goal is to greatly boost the economy. The bill proposes around $110 billion to replace and repair roads, bridges, and highways, and $66 billion for passenger and freight rail. This marks the most significant investment into the country’s railways for almost half a century.
An additional $55 billion is intended to repair the U.S. water supply; as well as $65 billion to improve the country’s power grid. A small portion of the bill is devoted to rehabilitating waterways, improving airports, and expanding broadband Internet service.
These surges of construction projects are intended to ensure new jobs across the country and a steady rise in the construction industry.
In Senator Portman’s speech regarding the bill, he stated, “It will improve the lives of all Americans.” And continues with “People do expect here in America, [with] this great economy we have, we should also be able to lead the world in infrastructure. But we don’t.” The hope is that the infrastructure bill will provide the improvements necessary to revamp the country’s infrastructure.
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