WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday met with members of a bipartisan group of senators struggling to develop an infrastructure proposal that could make it through Congress while achieving President Joe Biden's goals.
Twenty-one of the 100 senators, including 11 Republicans, nine Democrats and one independent who caucuses with Democrats have joined on the bipartisan proposal, building out a framework that sources said would cost $1.2 trillion over eight years.
That falls short of Biden's current $1.7 trillion proposal on infrastructure investment, which includes massive spending to fight climate change and provide more care for children and the elderly. Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Democrats in Congress said they may not support a package that does not address those priorities.
Senator Bernie Sanders raised eyebrows on Thursday by saying he is drafting an infrastructure package of up to $6 trillion, beyond even Biden's initial ask. That measure was sure to be rejected by Republicans and it was unclear how much support it would gather among Democrats.
A draft proposal of the bipartisan deal being circulated among members of the group includes $579 billion in new spending, to be paid for in part by unspent COVID-19 relief funds, public-private partnerships and an infrastructure financing authority.
The biggest chunk of the money, $110 billion, would be spent on roads, bridges and major projects, according to the draft. Another $66 billion would be spent on passenger and freight rail and $48.5 billion on public transit, according to the draft proposal.
The bipartisan plan would be funded by a variety of revenue-raisers. Some of them have been controversial, including indexing the gas tax to inflation. Sources familiar with the negotiations stressed that the document was a draft put together by one member for consideration, and there have been no final decisions.
Schumer said Democrats were working on two infrastructure "tracks" - a bipartisan bill and a larger one that could be passed with only Democratic votes using a process called "reconciliation https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senates-reconciliation-process-its-not-way-it-sounds-2021-06-16."
"We're trying to get both of them done. We have to get both of them done," Schumer said.