AUSTIN, Texas — On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would deploy at least $30 billion to Texas to repair bridges, build roads and increase broadband internet access.
However, both of Texas' Republican U.S senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, opposed the sweeping legislation.
According to The Texas Tribune, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act worth $1.2 trillion had bipartisan support and passed the chamber by a 69-30 vote. The U.S. House is expected to pass the bill, and Biden is likely to sign the bill once it reaches his desk. All Senate Democrats backed the bill, along with 19 Republicans.
Although he initially praised the bill, Cornyn cited the bill’s costs and the process by which it passed through the Senate as the reasons for his opposition.
“After reviewing the CBO’s analysis, which estimates the bill will increase the deficit by a quarter trillion dollars, and because of the failure to include my bipartisan amendment, I cannot support the final bill," said Cornyn in a statement. "It isn’t paid for, will add too much to the debt, and was rushed through the Senate in a week’s time without adequate debate or input.”
With this bill, Texas is set to receive at least $27 billion for roads, more than $500 million to repair bridges, $3 billion for public transportation, $408 million for electric car charging stations and $100 million for broadband internet, according to a White House fact sheet.
Cruz issued a statement calling the bill a "gateway drug to more reckless spending."
“Too many Republicans just enabled Democrats’ efforts to claim bipartisanship, spend over a trillion dollars, and then ram through their $3.5 trillion liberal wish list of crushing taxes and radical spending," he said. "The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed today contained only about $100 billion for roads and bridges. As I’ve said before, if the Democrats wanted to pass a bill just to fix and expand our roads and bridges, they could have done it with near-unanimous support."
To read The Texas Tribune's full report, click here.
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