BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A bipartisan infrastructure bill is now waiting for President Joe Biden’s signature after passing through the House this weekend.
Louisiana is expected to receive $7 billion from the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. The money will be used for public transportation, roads, broadband, and water systems.
“Louisiana will get billions from the federal government to repair and update our roads, bridges, sewage and water systems. We would be able to have updated flood protection, increased internet connectivity and so much more,” said Congressman Troy Carter (D).
Carter and Senator Bill Cassidy said almost $500 million dollars will go towards the National Coastal Resilience Fund. This will help reduce flooding for coastal communities in Louisiana’s bayou parishes.
“In Louisiana, we need infrastructure we can count on when the storms come,” said Carter.
“This is a major victory for Louisiana and our nation. This infrastructure package will rebuild our roads and bridges, increase access to high-speed internet, strengthen our electric grid, add levee protection, and improve flood resiliency. After almost every corner of our state was hit by natural disasters in the last year, we must have the federal investment to protect us from future storms,” said Cassidy in a statement.
Carter said the bill also includes $25 billion for airport improvements across the United States. This covers projects such as expansions, installations, assisting with planning, rebuilding runways, improving lighting, and air navigation facilities throughout the state.
However, some believe the bill will contribute to spikes in future taxes.
“It’s going to hit everybody, I know this, it’s just the rich, but that’s just not true. It’s going to have probably two billion dollars worth of new debt,” said Senator John Kennedy. “This is not an infrastructure bill. It’s an infrastructure, Green New Deal and welfare bill. Only 23 percent of the new spending in the bill is for actual infrastructure.”
Carter and Cassidy were the only members from Louisiana’s federal delegation who voted in favor of the bill.
Biden said he’ll look into signing off on the deal when congressional members are back in session next week.
