Legislative Update: Infrastructure Proposals

House Democrats unveiled a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package that the House will take up later this week before the July 4 recess.  “The Moving Forward Act” (H.R. 2) includes not only roads and bridges, but housing, education, and health care. The proposal invests more than $100 billion into affordable housing infrastructure and significant funding for water infrastructure improvements. Democrats have not provided details on how they will pay for the bill, instead saying they will depend on the President to detail suggestions on paying for infrastructure. President Donald Trump says he is considering a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal to send Congress. Many of the provisions are built upon the same framework the Democrats introduced in their $760 billion infrastructure plan revealed in January before the pandemic and the transportation authorization bill approved by the House Transportation Committee passed last week.

The Moving Forward Act authorizes $40 billion for water and wastewater systems in need of replacement, including reauthorizing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and $25 billion for a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and other drinking water programs.  The legislation would also reinstate Build America Bonds and restore advanced refunding of municipal bonds, giving municipalities more resources for essential improvements.

Meanwhile, the Senate is working on a more modest and bipartisan transportation authorization bill of its own and a separate package of water resources and infrastructure legislation.  As we reported in May, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved two water infrastructure bills (S. 3591, S. 3590), which authorizes $17 billion in new water infrastructure projects and reauthorizes the CWSRF and DWSRF emergency funds. The two separate paths mean the House and Senate will likely have to reconcile the two packages toward the end of the year, rather than the Senate taking up the House version.