Senate unanimously redirects COVID relief money for infrastructure projects

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - While Americans wait for lawmakers to finalize a deal to fix the nation’s aging infrastructure, the Senate is taking action to try and get some local projects moving.

Senators want to give states the green light to start building, even though Congress hasn’t come to an agreement yet on a final infrastructure package.

This week, in a rare show of bipartisan unity, the Senate unanimously approved a bill which would let states use some of the federal COVID relief money they already have for infrastructure projects. The bill would help states hit hard by recent natural disasters.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who was one of the bipartisan sponsors, spoke with Gray Television’s Washington News Bureau.

Cornyn said, “The federal government has thrown so much money at the state and local government. If they have excess funds, I don’t want them to fritter it away on things that really won’t be lasting. So, this incentivizes them to use it on things that will be lasting and productive like infrastructure.”

This bill would cap how much of the Covid relief money could be used for infrastructure.

Either $10 million or 30 percent of the unused Covid money in each state.

The House would need to take this bill up before it con head to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

Copyright 2021 Gray DC. All rights reserved.