Senate unveils details of infrastructure bill; Appalachian Regional Commission's budget would more than double

"Senate Democrats and Republicans unveiled on Sunday a roughly $1 trillion proposal to improve the country’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and Internet connections, setting in motion a long-awaited debate in the chamber to enact one of President Biden’s economic policy priorities," Tony Romm reports for The Washington Post.

One interesting tidbit: Funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission would more than double under the bill, receiving an additional $1 billion over the next four years. That's a significantly larger increase than other federal regional commissions would get from the package. The federal agency, responsible for promoting economic development in Appalachia, is led by Gayle Manchin, the wife of Senate swing voter Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Haris Alic reports for The Washington Times.

The bill calls for $550 billion in new spending over five years above projected federal spending levels, but the other half will come from existing, planned spending. It includes $73 billion to upgrade the nation's energy grid and $21 billion for environmental issues such as pollution. It also has an additional $65 billion to build out broadband internet and make sure it's affordable for the poor, but only $2 billion of that will go through the Agriculture Department. "The measure would also spend billions on carbon removal, firefighting and forest management resources, tree planting and more," Ximena Bustillo reports for& Politico's Weekly Agriculture.

Now the bill goes through Senate debate and a lengthy amendment process. But its future seems bright: "Last week, 17 GOP senators joined all Democrats in voting to start work on the bipartisan bill," Kevin Frekin and Lisa Mascaro report for The Associated Press. "That support largely held, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voting yes in another procedural vote to nudge the process along in the 50-50 Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and advance legislation.

"The legislation will face a more complicated path in the House, which Democrats control narrowly," Andrew Duehren reports for The Wall Street Journal. "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has repeatedly said that the chamber won’t take up the infrastructure agreement until the Senate approves a separate antipoverty and climate package that Democrats expect to pass through a budget process called reconciliation without GOP support."