A group of five Republican Senators and five Democrats have reached an agreement with US President Joe Biden on investments in US infrastructure. Over the next eight years, $ 1.2 trillion will be invested in the power grid, broadband internet, charging stations for electric cars, roads, airports and bridges.
That would mean additional spending of 579 billion US dollars for the US budget. In these, 109 billion are earmarked for roads and bridges, 49 million for public transport, 7.5 billion for charging stations and just as many billions for electric buses. The broadband infrastructure will account for 65 billion US dollars, 73 billion US dollars for the power grid. The necessary money is to be taken, for example, from unused funds from the emergency plan to counter the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, from the proceeds of the auction of the 5G frequencies and from taxes that have not yet been paid
Trembling game
However, the President is not certain that the package will survive the legislative process unscathed, as Biden explained in a press conference. Nobody knows for sure how the senators will ultimately behave. A total of 20 senators were involved in the negotiations. Biden said he had to cut back on investments in the railroad, for example. Instead of the 90 billion he was asking for, it would now be 66 billion US dollars.
Biden’s initial investment plan included spending totaling $ 2.6 trillion. The agreement that has now been reached does not include any of the previously envisaged spending on “human infrastructure”, i.e. tax credits for clean energy, childcare or care services.
(anw)
