President Joe Biden on Monday will sign a historic bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure package that lawmakers say will bring at least $9 billion to Massachusetts over the next five years — giving transportation, broadband and clean water projects a significant boost before the president and Democrats in Congress press on with negotiations over a $1 trillion social spending bill.
State Senate President Karen Spilka, and U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan and Jake Auchincloss, are among the local, state and federal lawmakers joining Biden at the White House Monday afternoon, where a signing ceremony is set for 3 p.m. at the South Lawn.
The bipartisan deal gives the president a landmark legislative win just as his performance rating — and Democrats’ chances of retaining control of Congress — have taken hits in recent months, fueled by dips in support among Democratic voters, rising prices and lingering COVID-19 pandemic concerns.
The White House last week said the $1 trillion-plus package will deliver “millions of good-paying, union jobs for working people, improvements in our ports and transportation systems that strengthen supply chains, high-speed internet for every American, clean water for all children and families, the biggest investments in our roads and bridges in generations, the most significant investment in mass transit ever, and unprecedented investments in clean energy infrastructure.”
When combined with potential grant funding, the infrastructure bill could inject more than $12 billion into Massachusetts over the next five years, according to the White House and lawmakers.
Massachusetts currently has at least 472 bridges and nearly 1,200 miles of highway in poor condition, with commute times rising almost 11% over the last decade and drivers spending more than $600 annually due to driving on deteriorating roads, the White House recently noted. Based on funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the commonwealth should receive about $4.2 billion in federal highway aid and $1.1 billion for bridge replacement and repairs over the next five years.
About $2.5 billion should go to the MBTA and $1.1 billion to bolstering Massachusetts water infrastructure over the next five years, according to the White House. Additionally, Massachusetts should see $244 million for airport infrastructure; $100 million to improve broadband access; $63 million for electric vehicle infrastructure; almost $16 million for enhanced cybersecurity; and $5.8 million to protect against wildfires over the next five years.
The state can also now compete for funds out of a $12.5 billion pool in a new grant program through the Bridge Investment Act that’s been worked into the infrastructure deal. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, an original co-sponsor of the Bridge Investment Act, said recently that the five-year program could assist state, local, federal and tribal groups in fixing or replacing bridges, including the Cape Cod Canal bridges.
The bill also incorporates a number of public transit, climate resilience and safety initiatives pushed by Markey, including improved rail crossing safety, tighter recall rules, increased automaker transparency and reporting requirements on potential defects and fatalities, and $1.25 billion to build electric vehicle and alternative fueling charging stations in disadvantaged, rural, low- and moderate-income communities across the country.
The package also includes language from the senator’s BRAIN TRAIN Act — reintroduced by Markey and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern in May — to advance intercity passenger rail projects to create, enhance or restore service in underserved communities, particularly in Western Massachusetts. A $12 billion competitive grant program over the next five years could bolster a “new development pipeline” for projects like East-West Rail in Massachusetts, Markey said.
“Although the bipartisan infrastructure package is by no means all we need to accomplish this Congress, the legislation now on President Biden’s desk fulfills a crucial component of our domestic agenda,” Markey said recently. “This bill includes key funding and policies to begin transforming our physical infrastructure for the 21st century, while promoting greater equity and starting to solve long-unaddressed safety challenges.”
Trahan recently said the legislation addressed a number of her key priorities, including $1 billion-plus to overhaul combined sewage overflows, provisions addressing dangerous PFAS contaminations, significant climate resilient infrastructure, and broadband access for the nearly 140,000 residents who don’t have it, preventing “families from ever having to sit in a library or fast food parking lot to get online again.”
“Whether it’s upgrading sewage systems in Lowell and Lawrence, repairing bridges in Haverhill and Fitchburg, improving roads in Gardner and Acton, making intersections safer in Marlborough and Methuen, or much more, this legislation will deliver the investments necessary to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, improve the daily lives of every single resident of the 3rd District, and create millions of family-sustaining jobs nationwide,” Trahan said earlier this month, after the House voted to send the bill to Biden’s desk.
The White House noted that over the last decade, Massachusetts has experienced 14 extreme weather events, racking up more than $5 billion in damages. Massachusetts municipalities and residents stand to save on energy and repair costs after benefitting from the infrastructure bill’s $3.5 billion nationwide investment in weatherizing homes and buildings to blunt climate change impacts.
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