What’s in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill?

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What’s in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill? From Amtrak to Roads to Water Systems
Roughly $1 trillion proposal is key part of President Biden’s agenda

The House of Representatives Friday passed and President Biden is expected to sign a bipartisan infrastructure package that has already passed the Senate, after Democrats ironed out some of their differences on a separate budget package first.

The measure passed 228-206, with 13 Republicans joining most Democrats to support the legislation. Six progressive Democrats voted against it.

In August, a bipartisan group of 69 senators—all 50 Democrats and 19 Republicans—passed the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package, which includes about $550 billion above projected federal spending on roads, bridges, expanded broadband access and more.

The bill’s fate had been tied to the success of a separate budget reconciliation package that contains much of Mr. Biden’s social policy and climate agenda.

Here is what is in the bipartisan agreement and what comes next.

What’s in the agreement for roads, bridges, transit and water?
The bill includes $110 billion in funding for roads, bridges and major projects, as well as $39 billion to modernize and make public transit more accessible to the disabled and elderly. Significant chunks of that money will go to major city transit systems, like New York City’s, based on federal funding formulas.

The deal also includes a $66 billion investment in rail maintenance, modernization and expansion, most of which will go to Amtrak. It would also alter Amtrak’s stated mission to focus on “the intercity passenger rail needs of the United States,” rather than turning a profit or at least breaking even, something the system hasn’t done since its creation in 1971. The system is attempting a major overhaul to provide a reliable alternative to flying and driving outside of just the Northeast Acela corridor.

The legislation will provide $11 billion in funding for highway and pedestrian safety programs. A total of $7.5 billion will go to implementing a network of electric-vehicle chargers, and another $7.5 billion will be used for zero-emission or low-emission buses and ferries. Ports and airports will be boosted with $42 billion in new spending.

The group agreed to spend $50 billion to bolster the country’s infrastructure generally against climate change and cyberattacks. Another $55 billion will go toward clean drinking water, and $65 billion will go toward broadband infrastructure and development. The deal invests $21 billion in removing pollution from soil and groundwater, job creation in energy communities and a focus on economic and environmental justice. The legislation will include $73 billion to update and expand the power grid.


The deal includes a $66 billion investment in rail maintenance, modernization and expansion, most of which will go to Amtrak.

What about broadband internet service?
The broadband section of the bill would establish a grant program to expand access to underserved areas, with nonprofits, public-private partnerships, private companies, utilities and local governments all eligible for project funding. It would also make a pandemic emergency benefit for internet access permanent, though it would lower the monthly subsidy for qualifying households to $30 from $50, but would include $100 for equipment. Around four million households currently use the emergency benefit, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

How will it be paid for?

The spending will be paid for with a variety of revenue streams, including more than $200 billion in repurposed funds originally intended for coronavirus relief but left unused; about $50 billion will come from delaying a Trump-era rule on Medicare rebates; and $50 billion from certain states returning unused unemployment insurance supplemental funds. Senators said they expected about $30 billion will be generated from applying information-reporting requirements for cryptocurrency; nearly $60 billion will come from economic growth spurred by the spending; and $87 billion from past and future sales of wireless spectrum space. Congress’s nonpartisan scorekeeper found that the infrastructure bill would widen the federal budget deficit by $256 billion over 10 years, countering proponents’ claims that the price tag would be covered by new revenue and saving measures.


President Biden’s infrastructure plan calls for nontraditional projects like the removal of some highways. What Democrats want for cities like Baltimore says a lot about the president’s goals in the next wave of development. Photo: Carlos Waters/WSJ
What about what Democrats call ‘human infrastructure’?
While the bipartisan agreement focuses on physical infrastructure like roads, bridges and broadband, Democrats are pursuing a separate, roughly $2 trillion proposal for what they describe as “human infrastructure,” including subsidized child care, an extension of an expanded child tax credit, universal prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds and affordable housing. Democrats are also aiming to shore up the Affordable Care Act and expand Medicaid and aim to reduce carbon emissions economywide by 50% by 2030.

Democrats don’t expect any GOP support for the social spending and climate legislation and are planning to use a budget maneuver to pass that legislation in the Senate with just 50 Democratic votes and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the evenly divided Senate.