Voting to Begin on $1T Bipartisan Infrastructure Package
According to an article from NPR, the Senate will begin voting this week on a $1 trillion infrastructure package after a “rare” weekend session, “culminating days and weeks of wrenching negotiations among a group of bipartisan lawmakers and President Biden.”
Dubbed as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the 2,702 page legislation is part of a two-track system to pass a bipartisan measure while also partaking in a more ambitious spending bill, according to Democrats.
“These days it isn’t easy to do major bills in the Senate, especially bipartisan ones, so I’ve tried to prod the negotiators alone when they’ve needed it, and given them the space when they’ve asked for it,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, Sunday evening moments before the text was unveiled. “In the end, the bipartisan group of senators have produced a bill that will dedicate substantial resources to repair, maintain and upgrade our nation’s physical infrastructure.”
Diving deeper into the text, $550 billion will be directed toward new spending to address roads, bridges, broadband and the U.S. power grid. According to Schumer, the legislative text will provide the base of the bill, and the Senate will consider additional amendments this week. Schumer also mentioned that the Senate could process and approve amendments “in a matter of days.”
