All eyes are on the Senate for the next week as they look to vote on two major bills tackling some of the biggest policy agenda items for the Biden Administration – Senate Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework.  First up is the Senate Bipartisan Infrastructure Package that was negotiated by Senate leadership, the bipartisan group of 22 and the White House.  The $550 billion deal funds the economy, enhances our competitiveness, creates new jobs and brings sustainability and resiliency to our economy and our infrastructure.  It also reauthorizes for five years the surface transportation authorization, which expires September 30^th.   The Senate is scheduled to work into the weekend on the bill.

With finalized legislative text still unavailable as of this morning (7/30), O’Neill and Associates has compiled a comparison of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) and the INVEST Act that was passed by the House on July 1^st – their own version of Surface Transportation Reauthorization.  Chairman of House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio is adamant that the House have a chance to conference the two bills to work out the differences as he does not want to be forced to accept the BIF deal given the House had no role in the drafting.