Sen. Sanders to Introduce Infrastructure Bill
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) plans to introduce a bill in the new session of Congress to authorize $1 trillion in spending over several years to rebuild the nation’s roads and bridges and invest in other infrastructure modernization projects.
Sanders did not say in his Jan. 3 announcement where the funding for the work would come from but said his plan would create 13 million jobs.
Sanders will be the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.
“The work needs to be done,” he said in the announcement that cited estimates from the American Society of Civil Engineers that $3.6 trillion is needed by 2020 to get the infrastructure to a “passable condition.”
“More than $1.7 trillion is needed just to improve our roads, bridges and transit,” the statement said.
“More than 30% of our nation’s bridges have exceeded their 50-year design life,” he said. “Almost one-third of America’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and 42% of major urban highways remain congested.”
Sanders also said that infrastructure investment is one area that could win bipartisan support in Congress, which opens its new session Jan. 6.
“There are a number of Republicans who understand that it is vitally important that we rebuild our crumbling infrastructure,” he said.
