Infrastructure Talks Continue

The fate of a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure framework could be decided soon, as the 10 senators who reached a tentative agreement on the proposal see whether they can sell it to their party leaders and caucuses. The proposal contains $579 billion in new spending, with the other half coming from baseline spending expected to be continued under current policy. The offset options include indexing the gas tax to inflation, repurposing unspent coronavirus relief funds, and using unspecified tax enforcement measures to collect revenue owed, but not paid. Sen. Warner (D-VA) said “he's optimistic about building enough support for the plan, but he said that will require the moderate Democrats to make clear to their colleagues that they're willing to back a second budget reconciliation bill that would spend more money and raise more revenue than the bipartisan proposal.  Additionally, some of the offsets the bipartisan group has discussed include leveraging public-private partnerships and reallocating federal unemployment funds states have returned.”