Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Earmarks $17 Billion For Illinois

ILLINOIS — President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Illinois is expected to see about $17 billion of that, which will go toward roads and bridges, airport and commuter rail improvements, drinking water projects, electric vehicle charging stations and expanding high-speed internet.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois' two U.S. senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, were among those invited to the signing ceremony at the White House.

“The Land of Lincoln is prepped and ready for federal dollars to jumpstart our projects ahead of schedule,” Pritzker said in a statement.

In addition to the $17 billion earmarked for Illinois, Pritzker said the state will have an opportunity to apply for billions more for a variety of projects — on top of the $45 billion state infrastructure bill passed by Illinois lawmakers in 2019.

Mayor Lightfoot touted planned improvements to the CTA red line, which she said will be extended to 130th street and brought into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. She also praised funding for lead pipe replacement projects, which could improve drinking water safety for about 400,000 Chicago homes.

Chicago has the most lead pipes of any U.S. city, while Illinois has more than any other state, according to the National Resources Defense Council. It's not clear if the bill will cover the cost of replacing all of them.

“This is going to kick-start everything,” Lightfoot said.

Durbin, the Democratic majority whip, praised investments in transit and rail projects and high-speed broadband. "I was proud to help pass this historic achievement to move our economy forward, create jobs in Illinois, and fortify the infrastructure of this great nation for years to come," he said in a statement.

Duckworth, who has made infrastructure and lead pipe replacement key legislative priorities, highlighted several provisions of the bill she said will reduce traffic congestion, encourage good paying jobs and protect roadside workers.

Among other things, the bill will make more public transportation and commuter rail systems accessible to those with disabilities and establish a permanent seat on the Amtrak Board of Directors for a disability advocate. It will provide competitive grants to state and local governments for projects to alleviate traffic congestion, as well as establish emergency breaking standards for heavy commercial vehicles — such as semi trucks — to protect drivers, roadside construction workers and first responders.

"This bipartisan compromise that the President signed into law today will finally put our nation on a path to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, fix our roads and bridges and take critical steps towards tackling the climate crisis while helping working Americans across the country save time and find good-paying jobs," Duckworth said in a statement. "I'm also proud that I was able to secure key provisions in this bill to accelerate the achievement of equality of access aboard public transit, help make sure Amtrak's leadership team is listening to the needs of the disability community and save first responder lives."

The bill passed the House earlier this month on a vote of 228-206, with a handful of progressives voting against the bill and a few Republicans voting for it. After passing the Senate 69-30 in August, the bill stalled in the House for months as lawmakers attempted to negotiate a broader infrastructure deal and a legislative path forward for the president's Build Back Better initiative.

Among Republicans to vote for the bipartisan bill was U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who earlier this month announced plans to retire from Congress and run for higher office — the Illinois governorship or even the presidency. He has faced backlash from more conservative members of his party for the vote, as well as for his previous outspoken opposition to former President Donald Trump.

“This bipartisan package contains significant investments for roads, bridges, rails, seaports, airports, and inland waterways — core infrastructure most Americans agree are in need of improvement,” Kinzinger told the Chicago Sun-Times, explaining his vote. "The bill also includes a massive investment into broadband and billions more into nuclear energy programs, both of which are uniquely important to the 16th District of Illinois."

Some Republican lawmakers have received death threats for voting for the bill, while far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene labeled those who voted for it "traitors," calling the infrastructure bill "fake" without explanation.

The former president, rather than criticizing any specific provision of the bill, seemed to be upset simply about giving Democrats a win.

"All Republicans who voted for Democrat longevity should be ashamed of themselves, in particular Mitch McConnell, for granting a two month stay which allowed the Democrats time to work things out at our Country’s, and the Republican Party’s, expense!" Trump said last week in a statement.

But the bipartisan infrastructure bill has more progressive critics as well, who say it alone does little to tackle the climate crisis. Without supporting provisions in the Build Back Better bill, the bipartisan bill will actually have a net negative effect on the climate, activists argue.

"To tout this bill as a climate victory is ... just a lie,” John Paul Mejia, a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, told The Hill. "Not only does this bill include in it some harmful provisions, it also doesn’t meet the full scope and scale of the climate crisis as much as the [Build Back Better] reconciliation bill would."

Progressive lawmakers, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Rep. Cori Bush, of St. Louis, Missouri, argue that voting first on the bipartisan infrastructure bill gave away any leverage for passing the Build Back Better bill, which has stalled in the Senate after pushback from conservative Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

Ocasio-Cortez, for example, warned Democrats not to oversell the bill, pointing out that the $15 billion earmarked for lead pipe removal is far short of the $45-60 billion she says would be required to replace every lead pipe in the country.

Build Back Better, if passed, would include an additional $45 billion for lead pipe removal.

"I want to protect our party from the disappointment and collapse in turnout from communities like mine that occurs when we tell them we did things we didn’t do," Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet last week. "We shouldn’t promise all lead pipes will be fixed if that is not the case. Some will, most won’t. We must push for BBB."

In a tweet last month, Bush also called the bipartisan bill a "half-measure," sharing graphics showing how much Democrats' original plan was pared back to reach a bipartisan compromise.