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BY LILY SENDROFF | After months of negotiations. the Senate passed on Tuesday a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, including $550 billion in new spending—an effort to reinvest in ‘hard’ infrastructure like bridges, roads and public transit; modernize the nation’s power grid; expand access to broadband internet; reconnect communities of color divided by large highways; upgrade the U.S. drinking water infrastructure, notably eliminating lead pipes; and fight climate change. The bipartisan bill passed by a vote of 69–30, with 19 Republicans joining 50 Democrats.
But for Democrats in both the Senate and House, the bipartisan bill—focused on so-called “traditional” infrastructure—is just the first step in their and Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better for Working Families Plan.
Next up is Democrats’ $3.5 trillion package, which moves beyond traditional infrastructure like bridges and roads to invest in “human” infrastructure, including universal pre-K and extensions to the child tax credit, free community college, expanded in-home caregiving for the disabled and elderly, further mitigating threats posed by climate change, lowering child care, health care and prescription drug costs, and reducing taxes on middle and working-class families. The Senate is expected to move on the budget resolution this week.
“Human infrastructure is intertwined with our physical infrastructure,” said Biden, who plans to pay for the package by raising the corporate income tax rate from 21 to 28 percent.
Members of Congress passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill through the traditional Senate rules, which require at least 60 votes to proceed to debate on a measure. But the human infrastructure measure will need to be passed through a Senate process called reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority. All 50 Senate Democrats must vote to support the human infrastructure package to circumvent Republican obstruction. With an evenly divided Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris will be able to cast the tie-breaking vote if necessary.
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