After months of wrangling, the U.S. Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Tuesday that includes funds for broadband access, electric vehicle charging and cybersecurity as well as rich contributions to roads, bridges, railroads and public transit.
The measure passed by 69-30 with the support of all 50 Democrats in the chamber and 19 Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.
The measure heads to the House, which won’t return for work until Sept. 20. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has vowed not to bring the bipartisan infrastructure package to the floor until she can schedule a $3.5 trillion package backed by President Biden to include initiatives around Medicare, climate change, universal kindergarten and immigration policy. The Senate voted early Wednesday 50-49, along party lines, to approve the $3.5 trillion budget package, just hours after completing the infrastructure vote.*
Shortly after the Senate vote on Tuesday, President Biden said in a news conference that he expects to receive and sign both the infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion package. He called the infrastructure bill “transformational...It’s important for democracy to be able to function…We’ll get it done.”
He thanked Republicans for joining in support, noting that the 69-vote majority was even larger than the majority in the Senate that passed the interstate highway bill in the 1950s. Most of the jobs to be created with the infrastructure funds will go to people without college degrees, in construction-related fields, Biden said, calling it “a blue collar blueprint to rebuild America.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J. predicted both measures would pass eventually, according to comments he made to Roll Call. “I’m not sure what order, or exactly when, but I’m absolutely certain the House will pass this infrastructure bill,” he said.
Whether the Senate version is kept intact, it currently includes about $550 billion in new funding of which $65 billion would go to broadband expansion, while 7.5 billi0n would go for electric vehicle charging stations and infrastructure. The Senate also allocated $2 billion for cybersecurity, half of which would be for a grant program for state and local governments.
The electric vehicle charging portion of $7.5 billion was about half of what Biden wanted originally. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg estimated the Senate’s package overall is about two-thirds of what Biden wanted back in March.
Much of the opposition to the infrastructure plan came from Republicans worried about expanded the national deficit, with the Congressional Budget Office finding it will add $256 billion over 10 years.
The electric vehicle charging support of $7.5 billion will fall far short of the $50 billion needed by 2030, according to AlixPartners.
The broadband portion includes $42.5 billion in grants to fund broadband deployment in areas with the least coverage, and $14 billion would to for subsidies for internet costs for low-income Americans. That subsidy would amount to $30 a month for eligible Americans.
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*This story was updated to include the second Senate vote in favor of a $3.5 trillion budget plan hours after the infrastructure vote.