Bipartisan group proposes its own infrastructure plan for the US.
A bipartisan group of senators has agreed a $1.2tn infrastructure investment plan as a counterpoint to the three other proposals presently being put forward by different groups of politicians in America.
The group, which is made up of five Republicans and five Democrats, have put forward what is so far the only proposal developed by members of both parties, though it is not clear that it is supported by others within the two parties, both of which have their own plans under discussion.
For Democrats, the new proposal would mark a significant reduction in their plans to rebuild American infrastructure and the economy, being around half the size of investment proposed by the president. His $2tn plan has been opposed by Republicans for including investment in things like school building programmes alongside more conventional infrastructure such as road and rail.
The scale of the new bipartisan proposal may be too big for many Republicans, however. House Republicans have proposed a much smaller $400bn infrastructure plan, while Republican senators originally proposed scaling back the president’s plans to below $600bn.
While negotiations continue between Republican leaders and the president to find a way forward, there is little sign that Joe Biden will accept a significant scaling back of his stimulus for the US economy and infrastructure. The newest proposal does, however, come with some appeal as it suggests it can be funded without any tax increases.
In a joint statement, the ten senators said: “This investment would be fully paid for and not include tax rises. We are discussing our approach with our respective colleagues, and the White House, and remain optimistic that this can lay the groundwork to garner broad support from both parties and meet America’s infrastructure needs.”
The senators behind the proposal are Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Joe Manchin, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Jeanne Shaheen, Kyrsten Sinema, Jon Tester, and Mark Warner.
