Legislative Update: Infrastructure Bills

Congress left Washington for the two-week Spring recess after a busy work period and passing the massive COVID-19 relief bill. Both chambers have held numerous hearings and members have been reintroducing many of their legislative priorities. Meanwhile, Democrats’ have been forming their policies in preparation for the administration’s next major push on infrastructure.

Infrastructure

President Joe Biden unveiled an over $2 trillion, 8-year infrastructure plan billed the “American Jobs Plan” on Wednesday. The proposal provides funding for a broad number of infrastructure interests across the country. The legislative package is not limited to roads and bridges but also includes water systems, broadband, clean energy, and domestic manufacturing. The White House is proposing that the plans new government spending would be in part paid for by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, raising the global minimum tax to 21%, raising taxes on the fossil fuel industry, and other tax provisions designed to discourage offshoring in his “Made in America Tax Plan.” The White House is leaving a lot of the details and funding to be determined by Congress.

Biden’s plan is aimed at moving away from away from fossil fuels and towards investing in renewable energy sources and in electric vehicle infrastructure to move toward zero emissions by 2035. $111 billion would be invested in modernizing water infrastructure, including wastewater and safer drinking water systems. The plan would eliminate 100% of lead pipes and service lines in the U.S.’s drinking water systems. It calls on Congress to invest $45 billion in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and in Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN) grants. $56 billion would be provided in grants and low-cost, flexible loans to states, tribes, territories, and disadvantaged communities across the country to upgrade aging water systems. The plan would also invest in building, preserving, and retrofitting more than two million homes and commercial buildings. Furthermore, the administration’s plan would invest heavily in revitalizing manufacturing, securing U.S. supply chains, research and development, and job training.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) goal is for her chamber to pass the package by July 4. Senate Democrats will most likely have to pass the bill under reconciliation procedures to get it through their chamber in the speaker’s timeline. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) approached the Senate Parliamentarian to determine whether the Senate can use the 2021 budget resolution to pass two reconciliation bills. If the parliamentarian agrees, Democrats and the White House will have better chances of passing at least two more measures that include President Biden’s “Build Back Better” initiatives under reconciliation.

Even with reconciliation, Democrats will have to remain entirely unified on an expensive bill that includes the highest tax increases in a generation.

The Biden administration plans to introduce a second social welfare element of the plan the week of April 12 or April 19. It is unclear how Congress would work the legislative package in with a 5-year surface transportation plan that is also on their legislative agenda.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Passes Water Infrastructure Bill

The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee unanimously passed bipartisan legislation, “The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021” (DWWIA 2021), introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). The bill (S. 914) authorizes $35 billion to modernize and invest in the nation’s deteriorating water infrastructure through Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant programs and revolving loan funds.

The legislation is cosponsored with several committee leaders, including Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, Tom Carper (D-DE), Chairman of the EPW Committee and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, as well additional members from both sides of the aisles.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Infrastructure Bill

On March 22, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) held a full committee hearing titled, “LIFT America: Revitalizing our Nation’s Infrastructure and Economy:”

“The LIFT American Act” (H.R. 1848), as introduced by 32 Committee Democrats, is meant to modernize the nation’s infrastructure while boosting the economy. The measure will serve as a blueprint for the committee’s work to craft a comprehensive bipartisan infrastructure package that invests a total of $312 billion in clean and efficient energy, safe drinking water, expanded access to broadband, Brownfield cleanups, and improving the nation’s health care infrastructure. Specifically, the bill provides more than $51 billion to protect Americans’ drinking water. The legislation extends and increases funding for the State Revolving Loan Fund and other safe water programs targeting lead service lines, water system resiliency, and water system security.

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