Infrastructure Debate Continues as White House Begins New Negotiations
On May 8, White House officials formally ended negotiations with a group of Senate Republicans led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) as pressure to draft a comprehensive infrastructure bill mounts. This essentially ends any further talks on the most recent offer made which totaled $928 billion, falling well short of the $1.7 trillion the White House is seeking for an infrastructure package. President Biden now turns to a group of bipartisan senators that began working on their own proposal in the event negotiations between the White House and Senator Capito were not successful. The bipartisan group led by Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) includes Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Joe Manchin (D-WV). The timeline for negotiations with the bipartisan group is uncertain.
Although the White House has indicated that a bipartisan package is the ideal pathway for infrastructure legislation, House Democrats moved forward on their surface transportation proposal during a markup on May 9. Negotiations look to continue as the two sides remain at odds over spending totals and how infrastructure should be defined.
GFOA’s Federal Liaison Center will continue to monitor this legislation as news develops.