A major infrastructure bill is one of those things that many politicians deem a slam dunk.
But if recent history is evidence, that’s far from the case. Infrastructure was believed to be a major priority of former President Trump’s administration, yet a bill never went anywhere. And presently, it’s a major focus of President Biden — and if ongoing negotiations between the White House and Republicans are any indication, it seems like something might actually get done this time.
To recap, Biden’s original infrastructure proposal was to the tune of $2.25 trillion, and he’s since downsized this to $1.7 trillion. Just last week, Senate Republicans proposed a counteroffer that’s a little under $1 trillion. There’s still some ground that needs to be made up and some ideologies that might be difficult to overcome, but the fact that the two sides are continuing to talk is promising news. We thought it would be fitting to take a look at where things stand from both sides of the aisle on the infrastructure bill:
Biden’s Proposal
The majority of Biden’s plan — $621 billion — would go toward roads, bridges, rails, ports, waterways, airports and means of public transportation. About $175 billion would go toward electric vehicle development, while an additional $300 billion would be put toward manufacturing research and development. Other big spending categories under Biden’s plan would include $111 billion for water infrastructure, more than $200 billion toward affordable homes, $100 billion for broadband Internet and another $100 billion toward schools and existing buildings. About $400 billion would go toward caregiving for elderly and disabled Americans and $18 billion toward modernization of Veteran’s hospitals.
The GOP’s Latest Proposal
The GOP’s latest proposal is much more infrastructure-focused and calls for less overall spending. In other words, it eliminates money allocated toward affordable housing developments, electric vehicles, modernization of hospitals and upgrades to existing buildings. The bulk of the GOP’s plan — $506 billion — would go toward roads and bridges, and an additional $98 billion would be put toward public transit systems. Rails ($46 billion), ports and waterways ($22 billion), airports ($56 billion), water storage ($22 billion), water infrastructure ($72 billion), broadband Internet ($65 billion) and infrastructure financing ($20 billion) round out the GOP’s plan.
The Bottom Line
As you can attain from the two proposals, there are some ideological differences between the two plans and what each of them calls for. For example, Biden wants his proposal to fund electric vehicle development and low-income housing. The GOP’s sticks more to infrastructure in the sense of roads, bridges, etc. However, as we noted earlier, both sides continue to move toward some sort of agreement. Biden’s original $2.25 trillion proposal was revised to $1.7 trillion. And the GOP’s initial $568 billion counteroffer was recently upped to close to $1 trillion. It may not be long before an agreement is reached and the economy sees another significant boom as a result.
