“So far, Democrats and Republicans have made some headway on the bipartisan deal. They have agreed to a very vague framework that includes funding for roads and bridges, public transit, passenger and freight rail, electric vehicle infrastructure, clean drinking water, and broadband internet, among a few other areas. The agreement goes into almost no detail beyond those broad categories \u2014 with lawmakers now working to get more specific as they transform that framework into actual legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where both sides haven\u2019t reached any agreement yet is how all of this will be paid for. Democrats want to pay for it largely by undoing parts of former President Donald Trump\u2019s tax law, while Republicans suggested raising the gas tax and electric vehicle charging fees. With both sides rejecting each other\u2019s ideas, they instead put out a list of potential revenue sources, ranging from stronger enforcement of current tax laws to spending caps to public-private partnerships. But the sides haven\u2019t reached any concrete agreements here, and all of these ideas may not even be enough to fund the full bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats have also promised to pass an additional infrastructure bill through reconciliation (to bypass the filibuster on a party-line vote). This bill would aim to fill in the other parts of Biden\u2019s agenda left out of the bipartisan deal, including broader action on climate change and \u201chuman infrastructure<\/a>\u201d measures like an expanded child tax credit and elder care.
But the party hasn\u2019t come to an agreement on this measure. Manchin\u00a0suggested<\/a>\u00a0the bill could be as little as $2 trillion, while Sanders has worked on\u00a0a $6 trillion proposal<\/a>. There is, suffice to say, a very wide space in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short: A lot is up in the air. The specific details are still being worked out. It\u2019s not clear if any of this will happen.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n