Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
August 12, 2021
**Shaheen was a Lead Negotiator of the Infrastructure Package, Steered Bipartisan Talks on Broadband & Water Infrastructure**
(Washington, DC) – Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate voted along overwhelmingly bipartisan lines to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, of which U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) steered key negotiations. This package would provide a $550 billion investment in our nation’s core infrastructure priorities – including roads and bridges, rail, transit, ports, airports, the electric grid, water systems and broadband. The bipartisan legislation was the result of months of negotiations that Shaheen led, including provisions on broadband and water infrastructure.
Check out this week’s coverage of Shaheen’s leadership around the largest investment in infrastructure in our nation’s history:
WMUR: NH senators say $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill could be beneficial for Granite State economy
- The United States Senate has passed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. If the house agrees to it, some New Hampshire towns could see an injection of cash for some projects that have been in progress for some time.
- As one of the lead negotiators on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen helped secure $65 billion to expand broadband access.
- “This is the single biggest investment in infrastructure in the United States in over 50 years,” Shaheen said. “When we invest in infrastructure, we create jobs. Whether it’s building roads, repairing our bridges or again, building that high-speed internet.”
Union Leader: Bipartisan infrastructure bill that NH senators helped negotiate clears Senate
- Both New Hampshire senators, Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, were among 22 senators from both parties who spent weeks brokering the compromise, which would spend $1.2 trillion to fix roads and bridges while upgrading the nation’s power grid and the public’s access to high-speed internet.
- “This is literally history in the making as it would make the biggest investment in infrastructure in more than 50 years,” Shaheen said during a telephone interview.
NH Business Review: How would $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill benefit New Hampshire?
- Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, who played a big role in the negotiations to hammer out the bipartisan agreement, and Maggie Hassan both praised the measure…which would mean that New Hampshire could see a big injection of cash for some projects that have been in progress for some time.
- Among the provisions in the infrastructure package [is]… $65 billion to expand broadband access to remote rural communities through public-private partnerships. According to Shaheen, New Hampshire will receive a minimum of $100 million for those projects alone. Additional funding will subsidize monthly internet bills for low-income families.
- Shaheen said the bill would also fix a provision in the 2017 tax bill that led to taxes on critical water infrastructure investments, including in New Hampshire, where the tax has resulted in at least $1.15 million in new federal taxes for water infrastructure projects in southern New Hampshire.
Politico: The power of 10: Inside the ‘unlikely partnership’ that sealed an infrastructure win
- The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday after taking more than a month to journey from bullet points to legislation, an achievement both for Biden and the bipartisan gang of 10 senators who took the lead on investing $550 billion in new spending into roads, bridges, broadband and ports.
- For Biden and the bipartisan gang, its Senate passage is an undisputed triumph for their brands of aisle-crossing politics.
E&E News: Energy winners and losers in the bipartisan infrastructure package
- After a decade of false starts and near misses, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) may have finally found a landing zone for their energy efficiency package.
- “This historic infrastructure legislation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rehabilitate our electric grid, transportation and infrastructure networks with an eye toward building a more sustainable future,” Shaheen said in a statement. “I’m glad that key provisions of our energy efficiency legislation played an important role in that effort and will continue to work across the aisle to push it forward.”
- Among its provisions, the measure would authorize a $45 million annual grant program over the next five years to implement cost-effective building codes for efficiency and resilience as well as $120 million for centers that identify efficiency opportunities in manufacturing and industrial facilities.
New York Times: Senate Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill, Handing Biden a Bipartisan Win
- The legislation is, no doubt, substantial on its own. It would be the largest infusion of federal investment into infrastructure projects in more than a decade, touching nearly every facet of the American economy and fortifying the nation’s response to the warming of the planet.
- “When we have more people on both sides of the aisle who want to do things in a partisan way, as opposed to figuring out how we can work together, I don’t think that’s in the best interests of the country,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire and one of the key negotiators, said in an interview. “It was really important for the continued relationships within the Senate that are so important to getting things done.”
Wall Street Journal: Senate Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill
- Many Senators cheered the public-works legislation as a boon to the economy and as evidence that Republicans and Democrats can still work together on major legislation in Washington.
- “This bill will rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and tunnels across the country. It will provide clean drinking water in American homes and address harmful contaminants. It will increase connectivity in our communities to bring broadband to even the most rural parts of our country,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.), one of the lawmakers who crafted the plan.
- Still, the infrastructure bill has drawn a broad coalition of support both inside and outside the Capitol, including endorsements from major groups representing both business and labor.
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