“We Have a Bipartisan Opportunity To Help Restore Faith in Government”
Heading into the weekend, the fate of the bipartisan infrastructure bill remains unclear.
The White House and Democratic leaders continue to negotiate with members of the House Democratic caucus in an effort to deliver votes on Monday. Meanwhile, independent-minded Republicans are coming forward to say they will vote for the bill, even as GOP leaders whip against it.
At least eight to 10 House Republicans are reportedly committed to voting for the bill. According to Roll Call, House Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) expects at least 10 GOP votes, and on Thursday, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told Politico that he will support the bill, and “refute[d] one of his party's core talking points.”
Said Bacon, “The Senate did its job here, and I hope the House does too. It is not true that the hard infrastructure bill enables the Bernie Sanders [reconciliation] bill as these are totally separate votes. Conflating the two is a mistake.”
The Senate did do its job, thanks to true leaders like Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) putting the needs of the nation before the interests of their parties.
It should be a no-brainer for the House to do its job as well. A No Labels/HarrisX poll conducted last week found 65% of voters want the infrastructure bill passed, with a two-to-one preference for passing the bill now and on its own.
There are many reasons why the legislation is popular, and why voters want it done now. It invests in vitally needed hard infrastructure, and it will create jobs. According to a new IHS Markit analysis, “every $1 increase in federal highway, bridge, and public transit investment” under the bill “will generate as much as $3.60 in economic activity,” Roads & Bridges reports. The combined highway, bridge, and public transit investment “would add $488 billion to U.S. GDP by 2027,” and “new jobs and higher wages benefit American households — with personal disposable income increasing by $69 billion by 2027, or more than $500 per household.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) writes in the Anchorage Daily News that the bill will fund infrastructure priorities “without raising taxes. It will increase our standard of living, create jobs and opportunities, and limit the inflation that threatens families and businesses. … The bipartisan infrastructure bill is one of the most consequential legislative efforts I have worked on.”
The House has the opportunity to come together to pass this bill with the same two-party endorsement it received in its 69-30 passage in the Senate. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) said in an interview, “We have a bipartisan opportunity to help restore faith in government.”