From Keystone Research Center/Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (https://krc-pbpc.org/):
The US Senate has taken decisive action to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill (now known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) and to adopt a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that advances the process for passing President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda with a simple majority via budget reconciliation. Both of these votes were critically important for staying on track in the effort to enact as much of the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan as possible.
Just before noon on Tuesday, the Senate voted 69-30 in favor of the infrastructure bill that was negotiated by the bipartisan “group of ten / G10” senators. 19 Republicans including Minority Leader McConnell voted with all 50 Democrats in support of the legislation, which provides $550 billion in new federal funding for infrastructure over five years. Sen. Toomey was not one of the Republicans who voted for the bill. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act now heads to the House, where Speaker Pelosi reiterated this afternoon that she will not bring the bill up for a vote until the Senate passes the more expansive Build Back Better package via budget reconciliation.
In the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, less than 18 hours after passing the infrastructure bill, the Senate voted 50-49 along party lines to adopt a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, delineating overall spending levels, authorizing Senate & House committees to work out the details of the package, and initiating the process necessary to pass the final legislation with a simple majority through budget reconciliation. The House will interrupt its August recess to return to session on August 23rd to vote on the budget resolution (and potentially other initiatives) before resuming its recess. Following that, committees will work on negotiating the details for their sections of the legislation – a process that could extend through September and beyond. The final votes on the Build Back Better legislation will likely take place later in the fall, prior to the year-end holidays. Yesterday’s 12:30 Report from The Hill includes a concise outline of the significance of the resolution and what’s likely to happen next.
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