Dear John,

I’m in Connecticut this week after passing the new bipartisan infrastructure package, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This is a big deal for our state and I wanted to take a moment to tell you why:

More work and more jobs - under the bill, Connecticut will see $5.4 billion over the next five years - and a 42% increase in funding this year alone. That means more support for vital projects across eastern Connecticut that have been delayed or deferred for too long - and that means more jobs.

Getting our bridges in shape - our state has nearly 250 bridges in poor condition and in need of repair. The new bill makes the single largest investment in our bridges since the creation of the national highway system seven decades ago - support that will make our state's bridges safer.

Huge investment in rail and transit - the new bill makes the largest investment in rail since the creation of AMTRAK, providing new support for critical improvements along the Northeast Corridor and other priorities such as commuter rail expansion in our state.

Building better water infrastructure - one of the most frequent issues I hear about is the tremendous need that our local communities have for updating and improving local driving and wastewater systems. The infrastructure bill makes the biggest investment in clean drinking water in American history.

There’s so much more in this bill that will help our state and our country. I can’t wait to work with state and federal officials to get to work.

The worst joke in Washington is that it's been “infrastructure week’ for five years -- but it took Democrats in Congress and President Biden’s leadership in the White House to finally get this done. In the end, only 43 of nearly 250 Republicans in Congress -- and just 13 in the House -- voted to pass this bill.

That’s what we are up against.

Soon, we’ll get back to the Build Back Better act which will make transformative changes in affordable childcare for working families, lowering drug prices for seniors, and so much more. With your continued support I’ll keep working to get the job done.

Thanks as always --