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Washington, D.C.— Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN) released the following statement in response to the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act:

“The American people deserve a targeted plan to improve our nation’s infrastructure, but unfortunately the bill passed today by House Democrats is little more than a Trojan horse for their partisan wish list of wasteful spending,” said Congressman Baird. “Despite claims from Speaker Pelosi that the Senate infrastructure bill and reconciliation package are not linked, the repeated delays since its Senate passage continue to demonstrate that today’s vote is to pave the way for her real priority – the multi-trillion dollar socialist spending spree. As hardworking Hoosiers continue to pay more for many essential goods and services, it is simply irresponsible to force them to foot the bill for a wasteful package that, while billed as infrastructure, dedicates less than 10% of its 1.2 trillion dollar price tag to roads and bridges. Constituents across the 4th district have expressed overwhelming opposition to this wasteful spending, and I was proud to vote no on this bill.”

Background:

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed the United States Senate on August 10, 2021. Since then, House Democratic Leadership has excluded both Democrat and Republican Members from infrastructure negotiations and inextricably linked the infrastructure bill to their multi-trillion dollar reconciliation package.

Described by Democrats as a means to improve American infrastructure, only a small portion of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will fund projects considered by Americans as “infrastructure.” The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that $400 billion of the bill’s $1.2 trillion total is unpaid for – equal to 25% of the total price tag. The CBO also projects that this bill will add $256 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act calls for $625 billion in new spending over 5 years and fails to address the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a lengthy and costly project review process. Without reforms to NEPA, improvements to our roads, bridges, and highways will continue to be delayed by bureaucratic red tape.