Photo: Senate TV via Reuters
“The Senate floor has been very, very busy. The Senate yesterday afternoon voted to advance the massive $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package following months of intense negotiations. The final vote of 69-30 represented a wide bipartisan berth, but the bill will likely encounter new challenges as it goes to the House. Then, early this morning, Senate Democrats approved their $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which they hope will pave the way for a huge economic package without the threat of legislative obstacles from Republicans who oppose it. The measure passed after a lengthy series of amendment votes known as a ‘vote-a-rama.’ Next, it also goes to the House for approval. Only after both chambers pass it will Democrats be able to use a process known as budget reconciliation to pass the legislation on a party-line vote. It addresses health care, aid for families, the climate crisis and more.” Read more at CNN
“Washington (CNN)The Senate's massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure package marked a big bipartisan achievement after months of negotiations.
The legislation, which still needs to be passed by the House, would provide $550 billion in new federal spending over five years.
The new investments would reach far beyond the traditional infrastructure projects for roads, bridges and railroads. There's also money to improve Americans' access to broadband, for electric school buses and to start addressing racial discrimination in infrastructure. The bill would also change the tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrencies and delay a controversial drug rebate rule -- both included as ways to help pay for the investments.
Still, the bill leaves out a number of other nontraditional infrastructure investments that President Joe Biden had called for. His original $2.25 trillion proposal, known as the American Jobs Plan, included money for caregiving for aging Americans and for workforce training -- provisions that Republicans argued did not belong in an infrastructure bill.
The bipartisan bill alsodoes not include corporate tax hikes, like Biden first proposed to pay for the spending. Instead, lawmakers found other ways to help cover the cost, like imposing new Superfund fees and repurposing some Covid relief funds approved by Congress during the pandemic.
But an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that those provisions would not completely pay for the bill and the legislation would add $256 billion to the federal budget deficit over 10 years. Despite that analysis, the bill's authors say the new spending would be offset by a combination of savings and new revenue that total $519 billion, only some of which is reflected in the CBO score since the agency is limited in what it can include in its formal report.
Here are five things in the bill that might surprise you:
1. Broadband upgrade
The legislation would provide a $65 billion investment in improving the nation's broadband infrastructure, according to the bill text. It's a smaller investment than the $100 billion Biden initially wanted.
The legislation aims to help lower the price households pay for internet service by requiring federal funding recipients to offer low-cost affordable plans, by creating price transparency and by boosting competition in areas where existing providers aren't providing adequate service. It would create a permanent federal program to help more low-income households access the internet, according to the White House.
2. Electric school buses
The bill makes a big investment in electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to use them.
It would help school districts across the country buy clean, American-made, zero-emission buses, aiming to replace the yellow school bus fleet by providing $5 billion for zero-emission and clean buses and $2.5 billion for ferries.
The bill would invest $7.5 billion to build a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers along highways to enable long-distance travel, as well as within communities where people live, work and shop.
3. Addressing racial discrimination in infrastructure
The legislation contains $1 billion to reconnect communities, disproportionately Black neighborhoods, that were divided by highways and other infrastructure, according to the White House. It would fund planning, design, demolition and reconstruction of street grids, parks or other infrastructure.
Many Black homes, businesses and neighborhoods across the country were bulldozed in the 1950s and 1960s to clear space for interstate highways, displacing many residents and entrepreneurs and cutting others off from the rest of the community.
Biden's original plan called for a $20 billion investment to redress historic inequities and ensure new projects advance opportunity, racial equity and environmental justice.
4. New tax regulations on cryptocurrencies
A provision tucked away at the end of the Senate bill would impose new tax reporting requirements on cryptocurrency transactions -- a move that congressional estimates say could raise $28 billion in new revenue to help pay for the infrastructure package. The legislation could have sweeping ramifications for cryptocurrency investors and innovators.
The provision appears aimed at cryptocurrency exchanges that help investors trade bitcoin and other virtual currencies. But opponents argue that the measure is written so broadly it could also unintentionally affect others in the cryptocurrency ecosystem -- from software developers to bitcoin miners, who aren't considered financial brokers in any practical sense. Industry advocates have said those non-brokers couldn't provide the tax information that would be required under the law and could be driven overseas as a result, with negative effects on innovation and US technological leadership.
In a last-ditch effort, a group of senators unsuccessfully tried to amend the infrastructure bill to make clear that only cryptocurrency exchanges would be covered by the new tax reporting rules -- and cryptocurrency advocates have vowed to pressure House lawmakers to adopt narrower language.
5. Delaying a drug rebate rule
To help pay for the infrastructure spending, the legislation would delay the implementation of a controversial Trump administration rule that would radically change how drugs are priced and paid for in Medicare and Medicaid. It's expected to save $51 billion.
The rule, which the Trump administration unveiled last November, would effectively ban drug makers from providing rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and insurers. Instead, drug companies would be encouraged to pass the discounts directly to patients at the pharmacy counter.
The Trump administration had backed down from issuing this rule in 2019 after it was found to raise costs for seniors and the federal government. The proposed rule, which was expected to raise Medicare premiums, would also have increased Medicare spending by $170 billion over 10 years, according to the CBO.
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents pharmacy benefit managers, sued the Trump administration to stop implementation of the rule.
The Biden administration agreed in February to push back the implementation until 2023, instead of 2022.
Here's what else is in the bill:
Funding for roads and bridges
The legislation calls for investing $110 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects, according to an updated fact sheet from the White House. That's significantly less than the $159 billion Biden initially requested in the American Jobs Plan.
Included is $40 billion for bridge repair, replacement and rehabilitation. The White House says it would be the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system, which started in the 1950s.
RELATED: US infrastructure gets slightly better grade on engineers' report card: C-
The deal also contains $16 billion for major projects that would be too large or complex for traditional funding programs, according to the White House.
Some 20%, or 173,000 miles, of the nation's highways and major roads are in poor condition, as are 45,000 bridges, according to the White House.
The investments would focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians.
Also included in the package is $11 billion for transportation safety, including a program to help states and localities reduce crashes and fatalities, especially of cyclists and pedestrians, according to the White House. It would direct funding to highway, truck, and pipelines and hazardous materials safety efforts.
Money for transit and rail
The package would provide $39 billion to modernize public transit, according to the bill text. That's less than the $49 billion contained in an earlier bipartisan deal and the $85 billion that Biden initially wanted to invest in modernizing transit systems and helping them expand to meet rider demand.
The funds would repair and upgrade existing infrastructure, make stations accessible to all users, bring transit service to new communities and modernize rail and bus fleets, including replacing thousands of vehicles with zero-emission models, according to the White House.
The deal would also invest $66 billion in passenger and freight rail, according to the bill text. The funds would eliminate Amtrak's maintenance backlog, modernize the Northeast Corridor line and bring rail service to areas outside the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, according to the White House. Included in the package is $12 billion in partnership grants for intercity rail service, including high-speed rail.
The funding is less than the $80 billion Biden originally wanted to send to Amtrak, which he relied on for decades to get home to Delaware from Washington.
It would be the largest federal investment in public transit in history and in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak 50 years ago, according to the White House.
Upgrading airports, ports and waterways
The legislation would invest $17 billion in port infrastructure and $25 billion in airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and promote electrification and other low-carbon technologies, according to the White House.
It is similar to the funding in the bipartisan deal and Biden's original proposal.
Improving power and water systems
The bill would invest $65 billion to rebuild the electric grid, according to the White House. It calls for building thousands of miles of new power lines and expanding renewable energy, the White House said.
It would provide $55 billion to upgrade water infrastructure. It would replace lead service lines and pipes so that communities have access to clean drinking water.
Another roughly $50 billion would go toward making the system more resilient -- protecting it from drought, floods and cyberattacks, the White House said.
Environmental remediation
The bill would provide $21 billion to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land and cap orphaned gas wells, according to the White House.
How Congress will pay for it
The CBO and the bill's negotiators have different views on the funding measures in the legislation. The agency doesn't think it is fully paid for and would therefore increase the deficit, and some experts agree.
However, according to a statement distributed last Thursday by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, and Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, who spearheaded the bipartisan negotiations, the package includes $519 billion in offsets.
They include:
$53 billion that stems from roughly two dozen states opting to terminate pandemic jobless benefits early in order to push the jobless to return to work and from fewer people collecting unemployment compensation because the economy improved faster than initially predicted.
$67 billion in unused savings from the Covid-19 employer retention tax credit that the CBO projected would be utilized but were not.
$106 billion in unused savings from Covid-19 paid and family leave tax credits that were projected to be used but were not.
$51 billion from delaying the implementation of the controversial rebate rule for Medicare Part D prescription drugs.
$21 billion from repurposing unused funding from the 2020 coronavirus relief bills for programs assisting small businesses, airline workers and schools.
$10.2 billion from sales of future Federal Communications Commission spectrum auctions and $67 billion from proceeds of the agency's February auction for mid-band spectrum that supports wireless services.
$53 billion in economic growth resulting from a 33% return on investment on the long-term projects.
$28 billion from changing the tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrencies.
$21 billion from extending fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac assess on loans included in mortgage-backed securities.
$14.5 billion from reinstating certain Superfund fees on chemicals to help fund the cleanup of highly contaminated waste sites.
Plus nearly $27 billion in other measures.
What's missing
The deal leaves out Biden's proposal to spend $400 billion to bolster caregiving for aging Americans and those with disabilities -- the second largest measure in the American Jobs Plan.
His proposal would have expanded access to long-term care services under Medicaid, eliminating the wait list for hundreds of thousands of people. It would have provided more opportunity for people to receive care at home through community-based services or from family members.
It would also have improved the wages of home health workers, who now make approximately $12 an hour, and would have put in place an infrastructure to give caregiving workers the opportunity to join a union.
Also left on the sideline: $100 billion for workforce development, which would have helped dislocated workers, assisted underserved groups and put students on career paths before they graduate high school.
The deal also leaves out the $18 billion Biden proposed to modernize the Veterans Affairs hospitals, which are on average 47 years older than private-sector hospitals.
What's also out is a slew of corporate tax hikes that Biden wanted to use to pay for the American Jobs Plan but Republicans staunchly opposed.
Biden's original proposal called for raising the corporate income tax rate to 28%, up from the 21% rate set by Republicans' 2017 tax cut act, as well as increasing the minimum tax on US corporations to 21% and calculating it on a country-by-country basis to deter companies from sheltering profits in international tax havens.
It also would have levied a 15% minimum tax on the income the largest corporations report to investors, known as book income, as opposed to the income reported to the Internal Revenue Service, and would have made it harder for US companies to acquire or merge with foreign businesses to avoid paying US taxes by claiming to be foreign companies.” Read more at CNN
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed a $3.5 trillion framework for bolstering family services, health, and environment programs through the Senate early Wednesday, advancing President Joe Biden’s expansive vision for reshaping federal priorities just hours after handing him a companion triumph on a hefty infrastructure package.
Lawmakers approved Democrats’ budget resolution on a party-line 50-49 vote, a crucial step for a president and party set on training the government’s fiscal might on assisting families, creating jobs and fighting climate change. Higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations would pay for much of it. Passage came despite an avalanche of Republican amendments intended to make their rivals pay a price in next year’s elections for control of Congress.
House leaders announced their chamber will return from summer recess in two weeks to vote on the fiscal blueprint, which contemplates disbursing the $3.5 trillion over the next decade. Final congressional approval, which seems certain, would protect a subsequent bill actually enacting the outline’s detailed spending and tax changes from a Republican filibuster in the 50-50 Senate, delays that would otherwise kill it.” Read more at AP News
“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he will resign amid the growing fallout from a sexual harassment scandal. His resignation heads off potential impeachment plans from the state's Democratic-led legislature, which rumbled to life after the New York attorney general released a report last week that concluded Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo said his resignation will take effect in two weeks, bringing an end to his decadelong tenure as governor. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo native, is poised to take up the mantle and would become the state's first female governor. Cuomo has denied all allegations against him, saying he never touched anyone inappropriately. He continued yesterday to skirt the line between apology and excuses, insisting he was, politically, the victim of evolving social norms.” Read more at CNN
“Dominion Voting Systems is suing right-wing TV channels Newsmax and One America News, alleging they aided the spread of baseless conspiracy theories about the technology company’s role in the 2020 election. Dominion was targeted by former President Trump in the aftermath of November’s election. His media allies assisted in spreading conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines and other baseless claims, often with Dominion’s name attached. The company is asking for $1.6 billion in each of its suits against OAN and Newsmax. Dominion has also sued MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, former Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and Patrick Byrne, the former chief executive of Overstock, alleging they all had a hand in spreading election misinformation. A similar $1.6 billion lawsuit from Dominion against Fox News is also pending.” Read more at CNN
“The start of the school season could mark a seriously dangerous time in the pandemic for children as Delta variant cases rise and many adults continue to avoid health precautions and Covid-19 vaccines. The good news is the national vaccination rate is finally up again to the same level we saw in June -- about 500,000 new vaccinations initiated per day. However, since there is a lag in immunity for newly vaccinated people, and since children under 12 still can’t get vaccinated, the dangers will linger for a while. Meantime, three major US airlines -- Southwest, American and Delta -- won't require their employees to receive a Covid-19 shot. This is a departure from United Airlines’ mandate that all employees get vaccinated by October 25 or face getting fired.” Read more at CNN
“State politics are playing out in school districts as public school students return to classrooms this month — in Arizona and Florida, for example, it is illegal to impose a mask mandate in schools, while in California and Illinois, masks are a requirement by state law.” [Vox] Read more at WSJ / Ben Chapman and Cameron McWhirter
“One of the biggest conflicts is taking place in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott, by executive order, banned mask mandates in schools. But the Dallas and Austin school districts have decided to ignore that, requiring masks anyway, and multiple groups have sued Abbott over the order.” [Vox] Read more at Texas Tribune / Brian Lopez
“With children under 12 unauthorized to receive the vaccine and the delta variant surging, Dallas schools’ superintendent said the situation is sufficiently urgent that masks are necessary. The school district could be subject to a fine for making that decision.” [Vox] Read more at Dallas Morning News / Corbett Smith and Talia Richman
“Florida and Arizona have similar laws to Texas, and school districts in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Phoenix, and Tucson have similarly ignored them and imposed mandates. Lawsuits against the anti-mandate laws themselves and the school districts’ mandates have followed.” [Vox] Read more at NYT / Giulia Heyward
“In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has said school districts that violate the order will see their superintendents and school board members’ salaries docked or withheld. Covid cases among Florida children have risen 137 percent over the past month.” [Vox] Read more at Daily Beast / Francisco Alvarado
“Laws in Arkansas, South Carolina, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Utah also bar school districts from requiring masks.” [Vox] Read more at Forbes / Alison Durkee
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that students over age 2 should wear masks indoors and schools should maintain three feet of distance between students.” [Vox] Read more at NPR / Vanessa Romo
“DANDONG, China (AP) — A Canadian entrepreneur was sentenced to 11 years in prison Wednesday in a spy case linked to Beijing’s effort to push his country to release an executive of tech giant Huawei, prompting an unusual joint show of support for Canada by the United States, Japan and 23 other governments.
China is stepping up pressure as a Canadian judge hears final arguments about whether to send the Huawei executive to the United States to face charges related to possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran. On Tuesday, a court rejected another Canadian’s appeal of a death sentence in a drug case that was increased after the executive’s arrest.
Entrepreneur Michael Spavor and a former Canadian diplomat were detained in what critics labeled ‘hostage politics’ after Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, was arrested Dec. 1, 2018, at the Vancouver airport.
Spavor was sentenced by a court in Dandong, about 210 miles (340 kilometers) east of Beijing on the North Korean border. The government has released few details other than to accuse Spavor of passing along sensitive information to the former diplomat, Michael Kovrig, beginning in 2017. Both have been held in isolation and have little contact with Canadian diplomats.
The Canadian government condemned Spavor’s sentence. It said he and Kovrig are ‘detained arbitrarily’ and called for their immediate release.
The legal process in Spavor’s case ‘lacked both fairness and transparency,’ said Ambassador Dominic Barton outside a detention center where the sentence was announced.” Read more at AP News
“The Taliban has stunned even seasoned military and national security officials in the U.S. government with the speed of its conquests over the past week.
President Biden isn't budging: He's resolved to get out by Aug. 31, no matter what, people briefed on his thinking tell Axios' Jonathan Swan, Zachary Basu and Glen Johnson.
Biden may not see much of a pause between his total withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country's total collapse into a bloody civil war.
‘I do not regret my decision,’ Biden told reporters yesterday.
Biden explained: ‘Look, we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces. ... They’ve got to fight for themselves.’
The Taliban has toppled nine of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals in less than a week, and now controls an estimated 65%+ of the country. (See a map.)
The Taliban is striking with impressive speed and coordination, a senior Biden official grudgingly acknowledged. Afghans and international security are scrambling to manage the mayhem.
White House officials have privately reassured themselves by noting that polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans support withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.” Read more at Axios
“YouTube suspended Senator Rand Paul and Twitter suspended Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for spreading misinformation.” Read more at New York Times
“WASHINGTON — The office of the National Security Agency’s inspector general said on Tuesday that it would investigate a claim by the Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that the surveillance agency ‘has been monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an effort to take this show off the air.’
The agency has denied the allegation. The office of its independent watchdog, Rob Storch, announced that it was ‘conducting a review related to recent allegations that the N.S.A. improperly targeted the communications of a member of the U.S. news media.’
Mr. Carlson made his eyebrow-raising claim during his June 28 prime-time broadcast, saying he had learned of the matter from ‘a whistle-blower within the U.S. government.’ The accusation carried echoes of conspiracy theories put forward by former President Donald J. Trump, with whom Mr. Carlson is closely aligned, about a so-called deep state out to get him.
‘The N.S.A. captured that information without our knowledge and did it for political reasons,’ Mr. Carlson told his viewers. ‘The Biden administration is spying on us. We have confirmed that.’” Read more at New York Times
“MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed a series of bills Tuesday passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature that would have imposed new restrictions on absentee ballots in the key battleground state.
The Democrat also said two Wisconsin counties should not comply with subpoenas to turn over ballots and voting equipment as part of an investigation being led by the Republican head of the Assembly elections committee.
‘Hell no,’ Evers said when asked if the local election clerks should comply. ‘You’ve seen what’s going on in Arizona. It’s a clown show.’
The Wisconsin bills, and ongoing investigations, are part of a nationwide push by conservatives to reshape elections and voting after then-President Donald Trump narrowly lost a second term to Democrat Joe Biden. Evers’ veto came as Republicans in Texas moved closer to mustering a quorum to pass voting changes stymied by Democrats fleeing the state.” Read more at New York Times
“Texas Republicans authorized the potential arrest of the Democratic representatives who left the state to block a voting bill.” Read more at New York Times
“Newark, N.J., has replaced nearly all its 23,000 lead water lines, two years after a warning from the E.P.A.” Read more at New York Times
“Lives Lived: Walter Yetnikoff led CBS Records during its boom years, helping shape the music business in the rock era. His personal behavior led to a fall from grace. Yetnikoff died at 87.” Read more at New York Times
“Roll tide:Alabama will open at No. 1, claiming 63 of 65 first-place votes despite losing a lot of talent from last year’s title team. Clemson is No. 2 and Oklahoma is No. 3. Here's a closer look at all the teams in the poll.” Read more at USA Today
“Look up, the best meteor shower of the year begins Wednesday, and will peak Aug. 11 to 13 . The Perseid shower, known for its bright, long streaks of light and dazzling ‘fireballs,’ will continue through Aug. 24.Luckily for people in the United States, the shower is more visible in the Northern Hemisphere. However, it does require staying up late, and a clear view of the sky. The Perseid shower is best seen at about 2 a.m. local time, but can be visible as early as 9 p.m. Discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, the shower originates from Earth entering the orbit of debris from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which takes 133 years to orbit the sun.” Read more at USA Today
“Emmy Award-winning actress Christina Applegate revealed on Twitter early Tuesday that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few months ago. Calling it ‘a strange journey’ and ‘a tough road,’ Applegate also said she has been supported by people she knows who also have the condition.
Other celebrities who have been diagnosed with the disease of the central nervous system include Selma Blair, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Joan Didion and Jack Osbourne.” Read more at USA Today