Senate Advances $550 Billion Infrastructure Bill to Debate

ACEC News / Advocacy

July 30, 2021

Senate Advances $550 Billion Infrastructure Bill to Debate

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 67-32 to advance debate on the $550 bipartisan infrastructure bill. Hours before the vote, a bipartisan group of senators announced an agreement with President Biden on the package of supplemental funding across a range of capital accounts.

The legislation is also expected to include committee-passed versions of bills to reauthorize surface transportation programs for five years, coupled with additional appropriations for various programs and initiatives.

Highlights:

Roads, Bridges —$110 billion, including $40 billion for bridge rehabilitation and replacement, and $17 billion for major projects; also includes reauthorization of federal highway programs for the next five years, as approved by the Environment & Public Works Committee.

Public Transit —$39 billion in funding above the current budget baseline, including state-of-good repair and capital investment grants, as well as five-year reauthorization of public transit programs.

Rail —$66 billion in supplemental funding, including $24 billion for federal-state partnership grants for Northeast Corridor modernization, $12 billion for intercity passenger rail improvements, including high speed rail projects, and $22 billion for Amtrak.

Transportation Safety—$11 billion for transportation safety, attention to reduction of fatalities (cyclists and pedestrians).

Energy Grids—$73 billion for power grid upgrades including new transmission and research for new technologies (nuclear reactors and carbon capture).

Electric Vehicles —$7.5 billion to build a national charging station network for electric vehicles.

Airports—$25 billion for airport improvement projects, including both airside (runways, taxiways) as well as terminal projects.

Ports and Inland Waterways—$17 billion for waterway and coastal infrastructure, inland waterways, and port infrastructure.

Resilience, Climate Change—$50 billion to address cyber-attacks, effects of climate change including droughts and floods.

Drinking Water—$55 billion for drinking water, including replacement of lead pipes and removal of emerging contaminants.

Broadband Internet—$65 billion for broadband deployment.

Environmental Spending—$21 billion for environmental remediation including Superfund sites; $1 billion to reconnect communities divided by past infrastructure projects.

Revenue Raisers—$588 billion in revenue offsets include the following provisions:

• $205 billion in repurposed Covid relief funds.
• $56 billion in “economic growth resulting from a 33 percent return on investment in these long-term infrastructure projects.”
• $13 billion from reinstating certain Superfund fees. 
• $50 billion from “recouping fraudulently paid” federal unemployment benefits.
• $53 billion from “certain states returning used enhanced federal UI [unemployment] supplement.”
• $6 billion in sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
• $2.9 billion from extending available interest rate smoothing options for defined benefit pension plans.
• $20 billion from sales of future spectrum auctions and $67 billion from the proceeds of the Feb. 2021 c-band auction.
• $49 billion from delaying the Medicare Part D rebate rule.
• $28 billion from “applying information reporting requirements to cryptocurrency (JCT score).”
• $21 billion from extending fees on GSEs.
• $8.7 billion from the mandatory sequester.
• $6 billion from extending customs user fees.
• $3 billion in savings from reducing Medicare spending on discarded medications from large, single-use drug vials. 

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