On Thursday, the House passed the INVEST in America Act (H.R. 3684) — otherwise known as the House’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization Legislation — in a largely party-line vote of 221-201.  A precursory Rules Committee Meeting took place on Monday and Tuesday with over 250 amendments submitted and 149 amendments approved for debate on the full house floor.  The bill faced criticism from Republicans who called out specific climate provisions in the bill as well as a lack of “pay-fors.”  The $715 billion surface transportation reauthorization and water infrastructure bill includes:

  • Roads, Bridges, and Safety: $343 billion
  • Transit: $109 billion
  • Passenger and Freight Rail: $95 billion
  • Drinking Water Infrastructure & Assistance: $117 billion
  • Wastewater Infrastructure: $51.25 billion 

Additionally, as part of an analysis by Bloomberg Government, Congressional districts in Democratic states are slated to get almost double the funding for surface transportation projects as compared to those in Republican states under the current bill.  In particular, California and New York are slated to receive the most money of any state.  This year’s highway reauthorization is the first such package to feature earmarks — otherwise known as member designated spending requests — in over a decade.  The inclusion of such earmarks is believed to be the cause of the “cash-per-district disparity,” which reflects the partisan and the geographic makeup of blue states, with Democrats asking for far more money and projects than their GOP counterparts.