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August 10, 2021

The result of weeks of painstaking negotiations between a bipartisan group of 10 senators and the White House, the infrastructure bill was approved by the US Senate and authorizes new public works spending of $ 1.2 trillion.

The plan, which provides for $ 550 million in new expenses for transport, broadband and utilities, strongly supported by President Joe Biden and until the end opposed by Donald Trump, was also supported by a group of Republican senators. The bill will then be evaluated by the House.

In the plan, $ 110 billion will go to roads and bridges, $ 66 billion to railways and nearly $ 40 billion to transportation systems.

About $ 65 billion is earmarked for broadband access, even with a $ 30 monthly coupon for low-income families who can't afford the internet.

Another 65 billion will be allocated to improve the electricity grid and energy production and nearly 50 billion to make infrastructure more resistant to both cyber attacks and natural disasters such as floods and fires.

About $ 7.5 billion will be dedicated to building electric vehicle charging stations, while another $ 7.5 billion will go to fund the replacement of existing school buses and ferries with low-carbon vehicles.

The plan will be paid for with unused funds for Covid-19, with new legislation on monitoring cryptocurrencies, with auctions of public goods.

However, $ 256 billion will be added to the federal deficit.

The approved spending plan is lower than the initial one wanted by Biden, who made compromises to get the go-ahead from both parties in the Senate.

The passage to the House is equally troubled, with the president, Nancy Pelosi, who is not willing to open the vote until the Senate also passes a 3,500 billion dollar anti-poverty and climate change plan: a demanding negotiation that it could take months.