US House OKs $1T infrastructure bill. How SC’s members of Congress voted
Months after the U.S. Senate voted to pass the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, the House sent the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk within an hour of midnight Friday for his signature.
Only one South Carolinian — House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia — voted to pass the legislation slated to bring billions of dollars in infrastructure needs to the Palmetto State. All six Republican House members from South Carolina voted against it.
“This legislation — that will soon be signed into law — responds to the needs of the American people. It goes deeper than simply building and repairing our roads, bridges, ports and railways,” Clyburn said in a statement late Friday. “This bill invests in transit, ensures access to clean drinking water, and modernizes our electric grid.”
Breaking a standoff within their own party, House Democrats sent Biden the $1 trillion infrastructure bill by a 228-206 vote.
Thirteen Republicans, none from South Carolina, supported the legislation and six Democrats voted against it.
“I have long said that America needs targeted investments in our roads, bridges, highways, and especially to expand rural broadband in order to remain competitive in the global economy, and I continue to believe that is the case,” U.S. Rep. William Timmons, R-Greenville, said in a statement shortly after the vote, . “Unfortunately, today’s ‘infrastructure’ bill was nothing of the sort.”
House Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Daniel Island, meanwhile, said the legislation was not bipartisan and criticized the price tag.
“As good stewards of your dollars, we should instead allow states to use their leftover COVID relief and to let them decide how they want to invest in infrastructure,” Mace said in a statement. “I believe we could have done more with less if done in a truly bipartisan and pragmatic way.”
The House vote came months after the Senate voted 69-30 to pass it, checking off one of the Biden administration’s key priorities of his legislative agenda. Another priority for Biden, the more than $1 trillion social spending bill, is slated for a House vote before Thanksgiving, leaders said.
Republican U.S. Sen Lindsey Graham joined Democrats and 18 other Republicans to pass the infrastructure legislation but Sen. Tim Scott — who is up for reelection in 2022 — did not.
White House estimates show South Carolina would get nearly $10 billion out of the infrastructure package that would help cover spending on bridge and road repairs, electric vehicle charging station expansion and broadband access expansion.
The largest chunk — nearly $5 billion over five years — would help improve public transportation options across the state.
An additional $4.6 billion would pay for highway improvements, and $274 million would pay for bridge repairs.
The vote Friday night is sure to please the state’s transportation secretary, Christy Hall.
Hall pushed for the bill’s passage in August, saying then the legislation would enable the state Department of Transportation to “improve safety, mobility and the quality of life for the residents, businesses and visitors” in South Carolina.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 10:53 AM.
