Congress Passes Historic Infrastructure Bill, Now Heads to President

Late Friday evening, Congress passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill after months of debate, on a bipartisan basis.

The legislation passed the Senate in August, with Leader McConnell voting for the bill, which the Kentucky Chamber strongly supported. However, the bill stalled over the past few months, with many progressives trying to tie together the infrastructure bill with a big-spending reconciliation bill, for one vote. However, on Friday evening Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House would vote on the stand-alone infrastructure bill. The bill passed 228-206 with thirteen Republicans voting for the bill and six Democrats voting for it. Rep. John Yarmuth was the only member of the Kentucky delegation voting in support.

The passage of this bill will deliver $550 billion of new federal investments in infrastructure over the next five years, including money for traditional infrastructure such as roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, ports and waterways. The package includes a $65 billion investment in improving the nation’s broadband infrastructure, and billions of dollars in improving the electric grid and water systems.

Upon the passage of the bill, Kentucky Chamber President Ashli Watts released the following statement, “Investing in infrastructure is a win for America and a win for Kentucky. This has been a top priority for the Kentucky Chamber and we thank Leader McConnell and Rep. Yarmuth for their vote to invest in our future, invest in jobs and invest in Kentuckians.”