A bipartisan group of 10 senators announced an agreement on a “compromise framework” to invest $1.2 trillion in infrastructure over the next eight years.
The deal reportedly includes:
- $1.2 trillion in spending over eight years.
- $974 billion spent over the first five years.
- $579 billion dollars of new spending.
The spending would be focused on core, physical infrastructure and would be paid for without tax hikes, however it includes an option to index the gas tax to inflation.
The group members are Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), John Tester (D-Mont.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Mark Warner (D-Va.).
“Our group – comprised of 10 Senators, 5 from each party – has worked in good faith and reached a bipartisan agreement on a realistic, compromise framework to modernize our nation’s infrastructure and energy technologies,” the group said in a statement. “This investment would be fully paid for and not include tax increases. We are discussing our approach with our respective colleagues, and the White House, and remain optimistic that this can lay the groundwork to garner broad support from both parties and meet America’s infrastructure needs.”
The initial reception from the White House was positive. Senior White House staff and President Joe Biden’s jobs cabinet will work with the bipartisan Senate group behind a new infrastructure proposal, according to White House spokesman Andrew Bates. However, he cautioned that “questions need to be addressed, particularly around the details of both policy and pay-fors, among other matters.”