That’s the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was passed last week.
The White House estimates that Texas will receive about $35.44 billion over five years for roads, bridges, pipes, ports, broadband access and other projects after federal lawmakers passed a long-anticipated national infrastructure bill on Friday.
The influx of capital is set to advance existing transit plans, pay for much-needed repairs and could lay the groundwork toward increasing transportation options for Texans.
U.S. House lawmakers gave the roughly $1.2 trillion measure final approval late Friday after a series of negotiations and concessions to get the bill passed. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law soon.
[…]
Here is the breakdown of the funds that Texas is expected to receive based on estimates from the White House:
- Federal highway programs: $26.9 billion
- Public transportation: $3.3 billion
- Drinking water infrastructure (and removing lead pipes): $2.9 billion
- Airports: $1.2 billion
- Bridge replacement and repairs: $537 million
- Electric vehicle charging network: $408 million
- Broadband expansion: $100 million
- Wildfire protection: $53 million
- Cyberattacks protection: $42 million
The White House also estimated that $3.5 billion will be invested to weatherize the country’s energy infrastructure, but it wasn’t immediately clear how much of that money would go to Texas or how those plans could combine with measures approved by the Texas Legislature this year in response to February’s devastating winter storm.
It’s smaller than I wanted, and there are some projects that were left out, but that’s still a sizeable investment, and after four years of loose talk about “Infrastructure Week”, it’s nice to finally close the deal. Just needed the right President and Congress, clearly. Speaking of which, remember that every Republican in Texas voted against this bill, so when you inevitably see one of them take credit for some project that is being funded by it, be sure to call them out.