Progressives in the House and Senate plan to set down a marker March 18 for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plans, introducing a $500 billion proposal to shift U.S. transportation away from fossil fuels.

Investing in infrastructure and adopting policies that enhance the movement of freight would help address the country’s climate change concerns, the head of FedEx Corp. told federal transportation policymakers March 17.

House Republicans voted to allow their members to request dedicated-spending projects, known as earmarks, following that same move by Democrats, in a positive sign for President Joe Biden’s hopes for a bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said there was no chance that Republicans would back any tax increases to pay for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, leaving Democrats to try to force through a package on their own.

Funds from Rebuild Illinois infrastructure initiative will benefit counties, municipalities and townships.

President Joe Biden is planning the first major federal tax hike since 1993 to help pay for the long-term economic program designed as a follow-up to his pandemic-relief bill, according to people familiar with the matter.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on March 14 pledged swift work by Congress on a job and infrastructure package that will be “fiscally sound,” but said she isn’t sure whether the next major item on President Joe Biden’s agenda will attract Republican backing.

Candidate Joe Biden rode into the White House promising to build back the economy after the devastation of COVID-19 with cleaner energy and a lower carbon footprint. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that President Biden signed into law March 11, however, does little in the way of fulfilling that pledge.

Freight transportation stakeholders said they’d welcome revival of the long-dormant congressional earmark process as part of comprehensive infrastructure legislation later this year.

Severe-weather events that immobilize communities and cut off access to energy resources reinforce the need to boost programs designed to address climate change, the leader of the Senate’s transportation committee said.