A group of 10 Democratic and Republican senators announced on Thursday they have come up with an infrastructure deal that calls for roughly $974 billion in infrastructure spending over five years.
In a statement, the senators — Republicans Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Mitt Romney of Utah and Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, John Tester of Montana, and Mark Warner of Virginia — called their agreement "a realistic, compromise framework to modernize our nation's infrastructure and energy technologies" and said they "remain optimistic that this can lay the groundwork to garner broad support from both parties and meet America's infrastructure needs."
Their deal focuses on fixing roads, pipes, bridges, and the internet, four people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post. It does not include any new tax increases, but the senators do want to index the gas tax to inflation, one person said, which could lead to higher prices for consumers when they fill up their cars.
Infrastructure talks between President Biden and Republican lawmakers led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) fell apart earlier this week, after the Republicans presented a plan for more than $300 billion in new spending over eight years — a proposal Biden rejected as not being large enough. During negotiations, Biden cut his initial $2.2 trillion infrastructure plan to $1 trillion, and has been adamant that any infrastructure package must involve new spending without raising taxes on Americans making under $400,000 a year, the Post reports.