US Senate overwhelmingly approves $1T infrastructure plan

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Senate overwhelmingly approved a $1.2 trillion plan on Tuesday to rejuvenate America's badly-aging infrastructure in a major victory for President Joe Biden.

The 69-30 vote clears the way for the massive spending bill to head to the House of Representatives where Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated it will come up for a vote after the chamber returns from summer recess on Sept. 20.

All told, 19 Republicans joined with the chamber's 50 Democrats and Independents to approve a bill that will send billions of dollars to states to remedy a litany of problems with the nation's roads, railways, ports and waterways, water lines and other public works projects. It will also improve access to broadband internet.

The bill marks a steep compromise for Biden and Democrats generally after the president initially proposed a more comprehensive spending package that originally totaled $2.6 trillion. Nonetheless, it is one of the largest cash infusions into America's infrastructure in decades and is a pivotal step in realizing Biden's economic agenda.

The plan includes $550 billion in new funding while also renewing existing transportation allocations. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer described it as being a "decades-overdue" effort to bolster the US' infrastructure.

"It's been a long and winding road, but we have persisted, but now we have arrived," Schumer said on the Senate floor ahead of the final vote. "The American people will now see the most robust injection into infrastructure in decades."

Some Republicans had opposed the spending package because of concerns that it would add to the budget deficit. The Congressional Budget Office suggested it would do so to a tune of roughly $256 billion over the next decade.

Democrats are now on set to focus their legislative efforts on Biden's second "soft" infrastructure bill that carries a price tag of roughly $3.5 trillion for the nation's health care and education systems and includes efforts to combat climate change.

Republicans have uniformly opposed the plan, which is being wrapped into a budget resolution. Democrats will need to maintain unanimity to pass the measure in the 50-50 chamber with Vice President Kamala Harris holding a tie-breaking vote.

The debate on that sweeping package is likely to extend into the fall and Schumer said Democrats will work "quickly and decisively" to ensure it clears the chamber.