Bipartisan groups will keep working on infrastructure — the hard part is how to pay for it
A Problem Solvers Caucus plan released Wednesday appears to come closer to Biden’s goals than the last Republican offer he rejected. It calls to spend $1.25 trillion — including about $762 billion in new funds — on highways, roads, bridges, railways, electric vehicles and broadband, among other initiatives, according to NBC News.
Biden has asked for at least $1 trillion in new spending above the baseline set by existing policy.
Meanwhile, the Senate group led by lawmakers including Romney and Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., has not announced an overall price tag. But senators emerged from a Tuesday meeting nearing agreement on spending for specific programs, Romney told reporters.
They appear further from a consensus on how to pay for the plan. The Problem Solvers Caucus aims to discuss potential tools to cover infrastructure costs with the Senate group, according to NBC.
Romney noted that the Senate negotiators have work ahead to win broader support for the proposal.
“This group is making a lot of progress, but we have a total of 100 senators, not eight,” he said.
Other disagreements could arise during bipartisan talks. The Problem Solvers Caucus proposal does not include Biden priorities such as care for elderly and disabled Americans and upgrades to housing and schools.
Some progressives in Congress have also warned Biden not to cut too much spending from his plan in order to win Republican support.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., appeared to tie the infrastructure talks to a handful of Democrats’ reluctance to use budget reconciliation or scrap the filibuster to pass party priorities. She tweeted Wednesday that Biden and Senate Democrats “should take a step back and ask themselves if playing patty-cake” with Republicans is worth a lack of action on legislation to hike taxes on the wealthy and corporations, protect voting rights and curb climate change.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/09/infrastructure-bipartisan-plan-develops-after-biden-talks-with-capito-collapse.html