On Monday, the House of Representatives returned from its traditional August district work period to consider procedural votes on a budget resolution and an infrastructure package as well as to pass legislation relating to voting rights. The two-day session was highlighted by a dramatic standoff between 10 moderate Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) over the sequence of the votes on a budget resolution that would pave the way for a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package and an infrastructure bill.
Despite broad bipartisan support for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in the Senate (including unanimous Democratic support), Speaker Pelosi has for months pledged to withhold consideration of the infrastructure bill until a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package was passed. Nine moderate Democrats, lead by Problem Solvers Caucus co-chair Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi threatening to withhold support for a procedural vote paving the way for reconciliation unless he and his colleagues were first given a stand-alone vote on infrastructure. On Monday, the nine Democrats were joined by a 10th, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), who wrote an essay outlining her stance that was published in the Orlando Sentinel.
After prolonged negotiations between the moderates and Speaker Pelosi, the moderates secured a promise from the speaker and a modification of the rule controlling consideration of the budget resolution, voting rights legislation and infrastructure bill committing to consider the infrastructure bill by September 27, just days before last year’s extension of the FAST Act is set to expire.
NRMCA and its coalition partners are meeting with Members of Congress and their staffs to urge them to support the infrastructure bill.
For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association