After months of tense negotiations, the House of Representatives has passed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, 228-206, fulfilling a major priority for President Biden's domestic agenda and cementing a political victory for Democrats.
The measure includes significant investments in roads, bridges, railways and broadband internet. Here’s a closer look at what’s included.
It passed late Friday night largely along party lines, with 13 Republicans joining 215 Democrats in support of the legislation. But the bill also saw six progressive Democrats vote against it because a larger social spending measure failed to secure enough support for a floor vote on Friday.
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, a Democrat who represents parts of Greater Peoria, supported the bill. She said it will “set our nation up for success because it will make the lives of our working families and middle class better.”
“This historic plan will revolutionize American infrastructure, create millions of jobs and be the biggest investment in our country’s foundation in more than a generation. This will rebuild our nation’s badly deteriorated roads and bridges, make sure every American has access to reliable high-speed internet, make the largest federal investment in public transit in American history and the largest investment in passenger rail since Amtrak’s creation, as well as upgrade our energy grids and power infrastructure, bring down costs and help clean up pollution.
“In just 10 short months, President Joe Biden has ushered in an unprecedented era of recovery and growth in our nation – we have passed and implemented the American Rescue Plan, job creation is at record levels and unemployment rates are the lowest they have been since before COVID-19 hit. Now, with today’s infrastructure package, we are moving forward on yet another historic step to build back, better,” Bustos continued.
Rep. Darin LaHood, a Republican from Dunlap, voted against the bill. He said “the infrastructure bill and reconciliation package are linked and cannot be viewed separately.”
“A vote for the infrastructure bill is a vote that paves the way for an extreme reconciliation spending bill that includes crippling tax hikes that will kill American jobs and send them overseas, hammer small businesses as they struggle to recover from COVID-19, and worsen the labor shortage while driving up inflation on working families,” LaHood said in a statement.”
"If Democrats wanted this to be a bipartisan process with robust debate and input from both parties, they would have brought the infrastructure bill forward through regular order when it passed the Senate in August. Instead, they tied the two bills together to accomplish a radical social agenda that will leave future generations of taxpayers footing the bill.
"I have consistently advocated for responsible infrastructure investment in our roads, bridges, inland waterways, and rural broadband. I will continue to advocate for the transportation and infrastructure needs of my district, but I will not take part in helping the Democrats and Speaker Pelosi pass their irresponsible and partisan reconciliation package,” LaHood continued.
One of the 13 Republicans voting for the package was Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Bloomington-Normal native and Illinois State University grad who now represents parts of northern Illinois.
“Not everything has to be existentially partisan, that’s a relatively recent phenomenon,” he tweeted.
