MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The Senate's infrastructure bill would bring billions of dollars in improvements to Minnesota.
The $1 trillion infrastructure package received bipartisan support in the Senate, passing 69 to 30 with 19 Republicans joining Democrats. The bill, which still needs to pass the House, includes $550 billion in new spending.
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) both voted in favor of the bill.
"This is going to be seen and felt in every part of the state," Sen. Smith said.
Sen. Klobuchar added, "We want to be a country that has an infrastructure that fits this century, not the last century."
In Minnesota, the investments include $4.5 billion for highways, $302 million for bridges and $819 million for transit systems across the state.
"For decades there have been road projects in communities all across Minnesota that have been sitting on a waiting list. Everybody agrees that they're important; everybody knows that they need to get done," Sen. Smith said.
The plan would bring at least $100 million for broadband internet systems in communities across the state and provide access to at least 83,000 residents currently without broadband access.
"We found out in really glaring technicolor during the pandemic that we have 144,000 households in our state that don't have high speed broadband. The school superintendents would say in all of the rural areas something like 10% to 15% of their kids couldn't even do their homework over the internet because they had such slow internet," said Sen. Klobuchar, during a press conference Wednesday afternoon at Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis.
The bill also includes $68 million for electric vehicle charging stations.
"This money will be spent in the next five years and that means that we're going to see a lot of construction jobs and that is another really big boost for Minnesota's economy," Sen. Smith said.
Senators in support of the bill say it will be paid for by repurposing other money, including some COVID-19 aid. But 30 Republicans voted against the bill, some saying it's still too costly.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would add about $256 billion to deficits over the next decade.
Senate Democrats also took their first step toward passing a $3.5 trillion budget. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said she will not take up the infrastructure bill until the Senate also passes that larger budget plan from the Democrats which tackles issues including climate change and health care.
Sen. Klobuchar said the plan would lower taxes for middle class Minnesotans.
The Republican Party of Minnesota told KARE 11:
"Republicans should be applauded for their work cutting through large amounts of reckless Democratic spending in the $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the United States Senate on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, have consistently supported a separate bill that would spend $3.5 trillion of taxpayer money on far-left priorities. This legislation would continue to place a strain on Minnesotan's budgets as they are continuing to feel the effects of inflation under the Biden administration."