What’s the plan now?

Source: BY MATTHEW CHOI, Politico • Posted: Tuesday, June 22, 2021

The bipartisan group of 21 senators working to hammer out an infrastructure plan could drop its proposal as soon as this week, just before the Senate heads out on its two-week Independence Day recess. POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine reviewed a four-page breakdown of current priorities, and though numbers are still being finalized, the plan would set new spending at $579 billion, with about $1 trillion in total spending, depending on the timeline of the package’s implementation.

A more detailed breakdown per Burgess and Marianne: “$360 billion for roads, bridges and major projects; $48.5 billion for public transit; $66 billion for rail; $55 billion for water infrastructure; $65 billion for broadband and $73 billion for power infrastructure. In addition, the group is proposing spending $47.2 billion on climate resiliency, $25 billion for airports, $10 billion on electric buses and $16 billion for ports.”

The proposal also would bring in pieces of Senate Energy Chair Joe Manchin’s primary energy priorities (which Pro’s Anthony Adragna broke down here), particularly on dealing with abandoned mines, weatherization and climate. The full Energy Committee will debate infrastructure and review Manchin’s proposal at its hearing Thursday.

Meanwhile in the White House, President Joe Biden plans to have at least one infrastructure-focused meeting with lawmakers this week, including one with Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Monday. But press secretary Jen Psaki said the president wants Democrats to pursue via the reconciliation process some of their more ambitious policy priorities that have been soundly rejected by Republicans