Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
On Thursday morning, following weeks of negotiations, President Joe Biden announced a new framework for his $1.75 trillion Build Back Better infrastructure plan, one of two major spending bills before Congress right now.
The other is the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1 trillion bipartisan plan that has passed in the Senate and is now before the House.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes $550 billion in new spending for public transit, passenger rail, bridges, water and sewer systems, high-speed internet, electric vehicle infrastructure, and investments in the electric grid to support the expansion of renewable energy. The bill would provide infrastructure support to municipalities in the form of direct grants as well as funds that would pass through existing state programs.
New programs that would provide direct funding to municipalities include $5 billion for a Safe Streets for All program and $5 billion for a competitive National Infrastructure Project Assistance program to allow communities to complete critical large projects that would otherwise be too expensive.
Two existing formula programs, the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, would each receive $11.7 billion over five years (49% for principal forgiveness and grants, 51% for loans).
The White House has released a fact sheet about what the bill would mean for Massachusetts.
The $1.75 trillion Build Back Better spending package includes investments of note to municipalities including workforce development, climate change mitigation and resilience funding, and affordable housing initiatives. The plan also includes funding for technical assistance to local governments through a new Rural Partnership Program that’s intended to help small and rural communities that are often excluded from federal grant opportunities.
Congressional leaders are looking to pass the Build Back Better plan using the budget reconciliation process, which provides for expedited consideration of high-priority fiscal legislation. Under reconciliation, amendments are limited in scope, and the bill is not subject to filibuster in the Senate.
Democrats do not need Republican support in order to pass the reconciliation bill, but they do need support from every Democratic senator and all but a handful of Democratic House members. This has resulted in lengthy negotiations over what the final bill will include, as well as the grand total.
Centrist Democrats objected to the initial price tag, and progressive Democrats objected to removing any of the proposed investments. The progressive caucus has stated that its members will not vote for the Investment and Infrastructure Jobs Act without Congress first passing the Build Back Better plan.
The House could take a vote on one or both plans as early as next week.