The United States Senate finalized the first proposal of the infrastructure plan promoted by Joe Biden

The United States Senate finished drafting a first proposal of the ambitious infrastructure plan promoted by President Joe Biden, which must now be submitted for amendments before being voted on in plenary.

After an unusual weekend of work and marathon days, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Upper House, Chuck Schumer, announced that the text was now complete. “I think the Senate will be able to deal with the amendments and pass this law in the coming days.“, he underlined.

After several weeks of arm wrestling between Democrats and Republicans, last Wednesday, the Senate voted to debate the initiative, which It enjoys the support of both parties and seeks to invest around one trillion dollars over 8 years in the reconstruction of bridges, railways, ports and airports in the country.

It was not yet clear whether senators outside the bipartisan group that negotiated the bill will propose amendments that could upend the delicate coalition that has formed.

If the bill goes through the Senate, it will go to the House of Representatives, where some Democrats have criticized it as too modest and the Democratic leader has linked it to a 3.5 ‘human infrastructure’ bill. billion dollars to spend money on education, child care, climate change and other priorities.

Democrats want to offset this social spending with tax increases on businesses and wealthy Americans who earn more than $ 400,000 a year, measures which Republicans oppose, leaving the fate of the two projects in abeyance.

A month ago, Biden and a group of 22 Democratic and Republican senators announced with great fanfare outside the White House that they had reached a deal, but later the negotiations were complicated, in particular by the reluctance of the Republicans on the financing of investments in infrastructure.

Earlier in March, the US president proposed an investment of $ 2.3 trillion, but the White House had to lower it due to criticism from Republicans.

The goal of Biden’s plan is to modernize what he called “physical infrastructure”: roads, bridges, railways, ports and airports, among others.

Biden’s other big economic and social gamble is to approve a $ 3.5 billion plan to invest in what he calls “human” infrastructure. Democrats, however, have no Republican voice to support this plan, which provides huge funds for the education system, families, the environment and health. Therefore, the initiative could only be approved if the ruling party uses the resource of “budget reconciliation” and does not lose any of the 50 votes it has in the upper house.

Joe Biden’s great political project is to make the United States the alternative par excellence to the Chinese authoritarian model, which implies being at the forefront of innovation but also guaranteeing jobs and prosperity for the middle class.

(With information from EFE, AFP and Reuters)

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