US House passes Biden’s infrastructure plan. Here’s how NC will benefit.

The U.S. House passed a key part of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda Friday, delivering an infrastructure package that could bring nearly $9 billion in federal funds to North Carolina over the next five years.

The bipartisan infrastructure plan, which includes money for highway programs, bridge replacement, public transportation, electric vehicles and broadband internet.passed the Senate in August with the support of 19 Republicans, including North Carolina Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis.

More than a dozen House Republicans joined with the vast majority of Democrats to approve the measure, 228-206. Six Democrats voted against it. The infrastructure package The $1 trillion bill has $550 billion in new spending, while the rest is previously approved.

But the package, officially called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, had been held up in the House as Democrats worked to pass it in conjunction with a second, larger spending package called Build Back Better leading to a conflict between moderates and progressives.

Biden said Friday he is confident the Build Back Better plan would pass the House during the week of Nov. 15.

Among the new spending in the bill: $110 billion for roads, bridges and major projects; $66 billion in passenger and freight rail, $65 billion for broadband infrastructure, $55 billion for water infrastructure such as eliminating lead pipes; $39 billion for public transit, $47.2 billion for climate resiliency including flood and wildfire mitigation and ecosystem restoration, $7.5 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure, $21 billion for addressing pollution cleanup, $17 billion for port infrastructure and $25 billion for airports.

The bill uses more than $200 billion in unused COVID-19 relief funds to help finance the package.

NC delegation reaction

All five Democrats in North Carolina’s congressional delegation voted for the measure, while all eight Republicans representing the state voted against it.

“Wake County is one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S., but our infrastructure has not grown with our community. This historic legislation will fund transportation improvements so that our people can get to work and products from our innovative companies can get to markets around the world,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, a Wake County Democrat, in a statement after the vote.

Said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat: ““The enactment of this historic bipartisan infrastructure package is a great victory for eastern North Carolina and the American people.”

But Republicans complained about some of the spending priorities in the bill and its overall price — and that it opens to the door for Democrats to turn their attention to the larger social spending package.

““This so-called infrastructure bill is fatally flawed,” said Rep. Ted Budd, a Davie County Republican who is running for U.S. Senate in 2022. “We were told this bill would focus on infrastructure. The truth is only $110 billion of the new spending in this bill will be spent on roads, bridges, and items generally accepted as infrastructure. Bottom line: We need real, hard infrastructure, not this liberal trojan horse for a socialist agenda.”

Said Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Denver Republican, in a statement after the vote: “Instead of addressing the nation’s real infrastructure needs, this bill wastes billions of dollars funding modes of transportation that most Americans aren’t using. To make matters worse, a quarter of the total price tag of this bill is unpaid for, which means more debt that American taxpayers can’t afford.”

The vote late Friday ended a long day — and long few months — for Democrats, who have battled divisions over how to pass both pieces of legislation with slim majorities in the House and Senate.

“Now that we’ve passed pivotal investments in physical infrastructure, we must turn our attention to investing in American families by passing the Build Back Better Act,” said Rep, Kathy Manning, a Greensboro Democrat, in a statement Friday.

North Carolina breakdown

The White House estimates for North Carolina:

▪ Roads and bridges: North Carolina could receive $7.2 billion for highway programs and another $457 million for bridge replacement and repairs through congressional funding formulas, the White House said. North Carolina has 1,460 bridges and more than 3,110 miles of highway in poor condition, according to a 2020 Federal Highway Administration report.

▪ Public transportation: The state could receive $911 million to improve public transit options.

▪ Electric vehicle charging network: The state could receive $109 million over the next five years to expand an EV charging network. The state could also apply for some of the $2.5 billion in grant funding for EV charging that is currently included in the bill. There are slightly more than 16,000 electric vehicles registered in North Carolina, according to June 2021 numbers from the Department of Energy.

▪ Broadband internet: North Carolina would get at least $100 million to provide broadband coverage, according to the White House. That figure could help at least 424,000 North Carolina residents who lack internet access receive it. More than 30% of people in the state would be eligible for a benefit that helps low-income families afford internet access.

At least 1.1 million North Carolina households lack access to high-speed internet, can’t afford it or don’t have the skills needed to take advantage of the digital economy, according to the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. The majority of counties in the state have less than 65% broadband availability.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.

This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 11:34 PM.