As we reported last week, August is the month when both houses of Congress traditionally take a break, both for government and personal travel, as well as working in their states and districts. While the House left last week, the Senate remains in session, working on President Biden’s infrastructure bill, which appears to be headed for passage this week.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will spend nearly $550 billion on roads, bridges, broadband internet, water pipes and other public works systems undergirding the nation.
Senators have found much to like in the bill, even though it does not fully satisfy liberals, who view it as too small, or conservatives, who find it too large.
The bipartisan package is funded by taking money from other programs already passed by Congress, and other spending cuts and revenue sources.
Once the infrastructure bill is passed, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to move on to passage of a budget resolution that will set the stage for Democrats to pass the remainder of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.
That effort will be strictly along party lines so if all the Democratic Senators vote for it, passage should happen pretty quickly.
If the Senate passes the bills, the House will have to work on them when it comes back into session in September.
The bill is worth reporting on here because it is likely to affect prescription drug prices. However, the details about how it may do so are very complicated so we will provide further information below for those who are interested in the particulars of the issue.
