Democratic Senator Ben Cardin was caught on a hot mic explaining to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about how Democrats plan to jam through a several trillion dollar infrastructure bill.
“Ultimately, it’s going to be put together similar to how the American Rescue Plan was put together,” said Cardin, caught on a C-SPAN microphone. “Most likely, we’re going to have to use reconciliation.”
Cardin is referring to the budget reconciliation process. This process changes the votes needed for certain legislation needed to be passed from 60 to a majority of votes. This process exists as a way for the Senate to easily pass legislation designed to reach budget goals.
The bill would also be constructed in a similar way to the massive coronavirus relief bill, according to Cardin.
A growing number of Democrats want a massive infrastructure bill designed at providing funding to fix roads, bridges, and broadband projects.
“We need an FDR-like investment in our infrastructure,” said Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee, to the Hill.
“We have a ton of infrastructure needs in the district,” said New York Rep Jamaal Bowman. “We have a sewage system in Mount Vernon that’s failing, sewage being backed up into people’s homes, sewage leaking into the Long Island Sound. We’ve also had rising sea levels and flooding in Mamaroneck; we need tens of millions of dollars there to help combat this rising sea level situation. And then we have sewage leaking into Yonkers.”
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