President Joe Biden speaks about a bipartisan infrastructure deal, at the White House in Washington on June 24, 2021. President Biden struck an infrastructure deal on Thursday with a bipartisan group of senators, signing on to their plan to provide about $579 billion in new investments in roads, broadband internet, electric utilities and other projects in hopes of moving a crucial piece of his economic agenda through Congress.Pete Marovich/The New York Times News Service
U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a hard-earned bipartisan agreement on a pared-down infrastructure plan that would make a start on his top legislative priority and validate his efforts to reach across the political aisle. He openly acknowledged that Democrats will likely have to tackle much of the rest on their own.
The bill’s price tag at US$973-billion over five years, or US$1.2-trillion over eight years, is a scaled-back but still significant piece of Mr. Biden’s broader proposals.
It includes more than a half-trillion U.S. dollars in new spending and could open the door to the President’s more sweeping US$4-trillion proposals later on.
“When we can find common ground, working across party lines, that is what I will seek to do,” said Mr. Biden, who deemed the deal “a true bipartisan effort, breaking the ice that too often has kept us frozen in place.”
The President stressed that “neither side got everything they wanted in this deal; that’s what it means to compromise,” and said that other White House priorities would be tackled separately in a congressional budget process known as reconciliation
He made clear that the two items would be done “in tandem” and that he would not sign the bipartisan deal without the other, bigger piece. Progressive members of Congress declared they would hold to the same approach.
“This reminds me of the days when we used to get an awful lot done up in the United States Congress,” said Mr. Biden, a former Delaware senator, putting his hand on the shoulder of a stoic-looking Republican Senator Rob Portman as the President made a surprise appearance with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to announce the deal outside the White House.
The deal was struck after months of partisan rancour that has consumed Washington while Mr. Biden has insisted that something could be done despite skepticism from many in his own party. Led by Mr. Portman, an Ohio Republican, and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the group included some of the more independent lawmakers in the Senate, some known for bucking their parties.
“You know there are many who say bipartisanship is dead in Washington,” Ms. Sinema said. “We can use bipartisanship to solve these challenges.”
Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said, “It sends an important message to the world as well that America can function, can get things done.”
The proposal includes both new and existing spending and highlights the struggle lawmakers faced in coming up with ways to pay for it
The investments include US$109-billion on roads and highways, US$15-billion on electric vehicle infrastructure and transit systems and US$65-billion toward broadband, among other expenditures on airports, drinking-water systems and resiliency efforts to tackle climate change.
U.S. infrastructure spending promises boost for industry
Bipartisan infrastructure talks collide with Democrats’ goal to tax the rich
Rather than Mr. Biden’s proposed corporate tax hike that Republicans oppose or the gas tax increase that the President rejected, funds will be tapped from a range of sources – without a full tally yet, according to the White House document.
Money will come from COVID-19 relief funds approved in 2020, but not yet spent, as well as untapped unemployment insurance funds that Democrats have been hesitant to poach. Other revenue is expected by going harder after tax cheats by beefing up Internal Revenue Service enforcement.
The rest is a hodgepodge of asset sales and accounting tools, including funds coming from 5G telecommunication spectrum lease sales, strategic petroleum reserve and an expectation that the sweeping investment will generate economic growth – what the White House calls the “macroeconomic impact of infrastructure investment.”
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Darlene Superville contributed reporting.
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