A bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement Wednesday on key sticking points that had been holding up a massive infrastructure package during months of negotiations.
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. However, it is far short of the $2.25 trillion proposal that President Joe Biden unveiled in March. That measure, known as the American Jobs Plan, included money for roads, bridges and public transportation, but it drew criticism from many Republicans for also making investments in areas not traditionally considered infrastructure, such as caregiving for aging Americans and workforce training. 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. RELATED: Here’s how Biden’s infrastructure plan would impact key areas of American life 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 calls for investing $110 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects, about the same amount agreed to in the bipartisan bill in June but significantly less than the $159 billion that Biden initially requested in the American Jobs Plan. Included is $40 billion for bridge repair, replacement and rehabilitation, which the White House says would be the single, largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system, which started in the 1950s. The deal also contains $17.5 billion for major projects that would be too large or complex for traditional funding programs. RELATED: The cost to fix America’s crumbling infrastructure? Nearly $2.6 trillion, engineers say 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.
