Senate Democrats announced Tuesday they have reached an agreement on on a $3.5 trillion budget plan to pass through reconciliation on top of a bipartisan infrastructure bill.
"The Budget Committee has come to an agreement. The budget resolution with instructions will be $3.5 trillion. If you add that to the $600 billion bipartisan plan, you get to $4.1 [trillion], which is very, very close to what President Biden asked us for," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement. "We are very proud of this plan. We know we have a long road to go. We're going to get this done for the sake of making average Americans’ lives a whole lot better."
The agreement for a budget reconciliation package would fund what President Biden has called the "human infrastructure" side of his infrastructure plan, according to USA Today. The $3.5T includes items such as expanding Medicare, funding climate change initiatives, and fulfilling other parts of Biden’s economic agenda.
Back in June, President Biden announced his agreement with a bipartisan group of Senators on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure framework that would cover plans for physical infrastructure. This plan includes $579 billion in new investments. This includes $312 billion for transportation, with $109 billion set aside for roads, bridges, and major projects; $11 billion for safety projects; $49 billion for public transit; and $7.5 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure.
According to The Hill, Schumer has vowed to hold two votes before the Senate breaks for the August recess: the smaller bipartisan deal for $1.2 trillion over eight years and the budget resolution that sets up a separate Democratic-only bill.
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SOURCE: Senate Democrats | USA Today | The Hill
