Senate's bipartisan $300 billion infrastructure proposal includes new rural surface transportation grant program

"Lawmakers on a Senate committee that deals with infrastructure on Saturday released a bipartisan, $303.5 billion draft proposal to reauthorize the main federal program that provides funding for highways, roads and bridges," Bill Lucia reports for Route Fifty. "In addition to supplying bedrock federal dollars for roads, the legislation would provide new grant funding in a number of areas—including for electric vehicle infrastructure, efforts to make the nation's infrastructure more 'resilient' to extreme weather, climate change and natural disasters, and for projects in rural regions."

The current package that governs infrastructure spending will expire Sept. 30. The Biden administration is trying to get support for a much broader infrastructure package that will cost about $2 trillion and include funding for areas like water utilities and broadband, but has been unable to get Republican support thus far, Lucia reports.

The bipartisan bill would cover five fiscal years, from 2022 to 2026, and would greenlight a more than 34% increase in funding compared tot the last such authorization. Democrats highlighted parts of the bill meant to reduce emissions, build resilience and improve pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure," Lucia reports. "Republicans touted provisions in the draft bill plan intended to provide funding to rural areas and to give states flexibility with federal guidelines. Notably, the bill would establish a rural surface transportation grant program, with a total of around $2 billion in grants available over the five years covered by the bill."