$1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Clears Senate Hurdle, Includes Biggest Bridge Funding Since Eisenhower Era

A month after President Biden stood in front of the White House announcing an infrastructure deal, language of the $1 trillion bipartisan bill defeated the obstacles of Washington and made its way through the Senate.

The bipartisan U.S. Senate members cleared a procedural vote on a possible infrastructure bill Wednesday with a 67-32 vote. It marks the first procedural vote, clearing way for the deal to advance and possibly set Biden’s focus on infrastructure into action. Reports say it could still be days before the Senate finishes writing the bill, but this allows the Senate to start debate. The bill still faces obstacles, including turning the text into formal legislation that will need to pass both the Senate and House.

The legislation focuses on hard infrastructure funding for roads, bridges and broadband. In an interview with Farm Journal editor and AgDay Host Clinton Griffiths, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg called the agreement “a very big moment” for the White House and America.

“For years, really, we’ve been asking what’s it going to take to at least do the things everybody can agree on,” Buttigieg told Griffiths. “We need better funding for roads and bridges, we have to do more to get broadband out to parts of the country that have been left out. And that’s what’s in this package; it’s going to create millions of good paying jobs for Americans. And it’s an example, of course, we’re not there yet. It’s got to get voted on, the House has to act and we have to get it to the President’s desk. But the moment the President signs it, it’s going to be an example that we can in fact deliver big things even in today’s divided Washington.”

Griffiths pressed on what type of infrastructure fixes the White House and Congress deem as necessary. Buttigieg responded with fixing rural bridges to funding to prevent issues such as the crack that shuttered a bridge in Memphis, Tenn.

“Thousands of bridges are in poor condition in this country; they’re in rural areas where if that bridge or road goes out there’s serious consequences for families and communities,” Buttigieg said. “It’s part of why I’m proud to see over $100 billion for roads, bridges and major projects, and the biggest dedicated investment in bridges since the Eisenhower era when the interstate system was set up in the first place.”

Breakdown of the Bill

What’s in the historic infrastructure agreement? The $1.2 trillion bill will cover costs over eight years and includes more than $550 billion in new spending.

• $110 billion in new funds for roads, bridges and major projects; $40 billion of which is new funding for bridge repair, replacement and rehabilitation and $17.5 billion for major projects.
• $73 billion for the electric grid and power structures.
• $66 billion for rail services.
• $65 billion for broadband.
• $55 billion for clean drinking water.
• $21 billion in environmental remediation.
• $50 billion for flooding and coastal resiliency.
• $39 billion in new transit funding to modernize transit. This is the largest federal investment in public transit in history, according to the White House.
• $25 billion for airports.
• $17 billion in port infrastructure.
• $11 billion in transportation safety programs.
• $7.5 billion for electric vehicles and electric vehicles charging; $2.5 billion in zero emission buses, $2.5 billion in low emission buses and $2.5 billion for ferries.
• $1 billion for planning, design, demolition and reconstruction of street grids and parks.
• Language regarding enforcement of unemployment insurance fraud and is fully paid for.

The White House says the funding will come partially from unspent emergency relief funds, targeted corporate user fees and tax enforcement on cryptocurrencies. The rest of the funding will need to come from other bipartisan measures.

Focus on Broadband

The Biden administration continues to acknowledge the need for broadband in both rural and urban areas.

“That’s why I’m proud of the $65 billion broadband provision to make sure every American can get fast and affordable internet access,” Buttigieg said. “The reality today is you need Internet access connections just as you need highway connections.”

While broadband is a newer issue than the nation’s roads and bridges, it’s been a policy focus since the 1990s. In the early 2000s, most internet access to homes came in the form of dial-up. Today, there’s still a need for quicker, more affordable broadband options, despite decades of focusing on the issue. According to the FCC, nearly one-fourth of the rural population, or 14.5 million people, lack access to fixed broadband service at reliable speeds.

“It's not just about the funding to lay fiber optic cables and get wireless connections, although that’s important; it’s also policies to make sure there’s a good competitive environment,” the Transportation Secretary told Griffiths. “A lot of Americans live where there’s only one broadband provider, and that often makes it tough for it to be affordable.

“These are the kinds of things we have to do,” he continued. “Yes, we need the money but also the policies. And that’s true, whether we’re talking about something like the internet or whether we’re talking about something like road safety. There’s $11 billion overall in this package for safety, which is so important across everything we manage in this department, from pipelines to bridges, and I’ll be proud to work with folks across the country on delivering there.”

Agriculture’s focus on all types of infrastructure funding is an annual battle. As other countries dredge deeper rivers and expand ports to allow for larger ships, there’s concern the U.S. could lose a competitive advantage for agricultural goods. 2020 marked the second highest year on record for U.S. ag exports, totaling $146 billion in value.

“The bottom line is you get what you pay for,” Buttigieg said. “This is a country that historically has been proud of having the best infrastructure in the world. We’ve fallen out of that — we’re out of the top 10. This is an opportunity to change that. I think that’s one of the reasons why you see such strong bipartisan support to do something.”

Pressing Shipping Supply Chain Issues

The infrastructure funding push comes at a time when the global supply chain is in disarray. From impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to labor issues, agriculture and consumers are dealing with supply delays and shortages.

Drewry Shipping Consultants says the average price worldwide to ship a 40’ container overseas in June jumped 333% from a year prior. In addition, only 39% of container ships around the world arrived on time at ports in May.

“This is something that really does flow through the entire American economy,” Buttigieg said. “The President has directed us to work with everybody who’s involved, whether we’re talking about truckers, whether we’re talking about freight, railroads, ports and anything in between, to make sure we really do have those goods moving. We know when we get a chance to compete American goods, agricultural and otherwise are second to none. We’ve got to make sure it’s flowing the way it needs to so we can really sell to the world.”

According to Reuters, Republicans blocked a similar move last week, saying details were not nailed down. In the latest bill, details on transit and broadband are still being finalized but lawmakers say legislative text will be completed soon.

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Source: AgWeb

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