Over the course of the last year we have seen a heavy push in Congress for the trillion dollar increase in infrastructure for the United States. On November 15th Democrats finally saw President Biden sign the $1 trillion bipartisan bill into law. This effort may have finally seen success this year but it has had many failed attempts in Washington over the course of a few years. The package will be split into separate pieces all going to roads, transportations, utilities, bridges and etc. The main thing that has confused me about the infrastructure bill is the price tag that comes with it. We've seen a lot in the news about the effects of covid on the market and how households have been affected yet they're spending $1 trillion on the roads and bridges instead. I understand the transportation portion but that is only around $100 billion of the trillion dollars.
From an economic standpoint if the market was not stable and Biden wanted to see positive movement shouldn't the money have gone into the American markets or to the people struggling to pay for their internet or rent and things of that circumstance?
What do you guys think? I love that they were able to get a bipartisan bill out and come together to get something done in Congress. We see politics and sides get in the way so much now in Congress to the point where they don't get anything done.
Hello Jody,
It is very nice to see bipartisan efforts. However, I wondered why there was such a large amount of money in this bill. Looking at the 1 trillion dollar bill is titled the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act means "historic investment that will modernize our roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, airports, broadband, and drinking water and waste water infrastructure." (2022). Looking to see the breakdown it appears 66 billion for passenger and freight rails while there is a 110 billion for roads, bridges, and major projects. There are portions going transportation safety and public transit. It will be interesting to see how this money is managed. While the government tends to have a pretty awful track record of managing money. It will be interesting to see if this case is at all different because it is a bipartisan bill.
References
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. (2022). Retrieved from https://transportation.house.gov/committee-activity/issue/infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act