Biden’s $1.2T infrastructure bill approved with bipartisan votes

Small disadvantaged firms eligible for DBE set-asides

      President Joe Biden achieved one of his main goals with the recent passage by Congress of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill with broad bipartisan support.

      The five-year package will boost spending on highways, transit, bridges and rail systems, as well as electric vehicles, climate resilience, renewable energy and more.

      Contracts for small businesses are likely to flow mostly through state government-run Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs, in which at least 10% of the funding for transportation projects is to be set aside for small disadvantaged firms (see related story).

      That is traditionally how federal transportation funding is distributed. At the same time, since some of the spending is not traditional infrastructure, some contracts may be awarded directly by federal agencies.

      The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework legislation cleared the House on Nov. 5, after being approved by the Senate in August. It was signed by the president on Nov. 15. The final version was pared down and modified from Biden’s original plan. Even so, the bill won support from nearly all Democrats as well as 19 GOP senators and 13 GOP House members.

      The White House anticipates the investments will add about 2 million jobs a year, on average, over the next 10 years.

What is in the bill?

• Roads and Bridges: The legislation provides $110 billion to repair highways, bridges and roads, with about $40 billion of that specifically dedicated to bridges. According to the White House, one in every five miles of highways and major roads is in disrepair, as are 45,000 bridges.
• Public Transit: The bill has $39 billion in new investments and $90 billion in total investments over the next five years for repairs of aging buses, mass transit rail cars, stations, signals and tracks, as well as new procurements of zero-emission and low-emission buses.
• Amtrak: There is $66 billion to improve Amtrak service and address its maintenance backlog.
• The legislation has $65 billion to improve broadband internet access for rural areas and tribal communities. Most will be made available in grants to states.
• Electric grid modernization: There is $65 billion to improve the reliability and resiliency of the nation’s power grids. It would also boost carbon capture technologies and boost the deployment of clean energy technologies.
• Water and Wastewater: The infrastructure package will spend $55 billion on water and wastewater infrastructure.
• Weatherization and Resilience: There will be over $50 billion spent under the bill to protect against droughts, heat, floods and wildfires, including investments in weatherization and in resilience of natural and physical systems.
• Seaports and Airports: There’s $25 billion that will flow to airports to repair and modernize runways, gates, terminals and air traffic control towers. Another $17 billion is dedicated to revitalizing seaports.
• Brownfield cleanup: The bill dedicates $25 billion to the cleanup of polluted brownfield sites.
• Electric vehicles: The bill will deliver $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations, along with $5 billion for electric and hybrid school buses.

More information:
White House FAQs: https://bit.ly/3n3T86B
and: https://bit.ly/3ohANT1

Biden’s $1.2T infrastructure bill approved with bipartisan votes

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