R&I – TxPAT ***Mitch McConnell said he thinks an infrastructure package should cost between $600 billion and $800 billion.
The Senate minority leader is set to discuss infrastructure when he meets with President Joe Biden and top congressional leaders Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday.
Biden has backed $2.3 trillion in infrastructure spending, and Democrats and Republicans have disagreed on what constitutes infrastructure and how they should pay for it.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said an infrastructure plan should cost no more than $800 billion, setting down a marker ahead of a critical week for efforts to craft a bill that would refresh U.S. transportation, broadband and water systems.
“The proper price tag for what most of us think of as infrastructure is about 6-to-800 billion dollars,” the Kentucky Republican told his state’s PBS TV station KET on Sunday, again criticizing President Joe Biden for putting what he called unrelated items in his $2.3 trillion proposal.
McConnell outlined his desired spending cap ahead of Biden’s first meeting with the top four congressional leaders on Wednesday. The president is expected to discuss infrastructure with McConnell, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Biden will then meet with six Republican senators to talk about a potential compromise on Thursday. One of those lawmakers, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, led a $568 billion GOP infrastructure proposal last month.
Capito on Friday signaled Republicans could agree to a larger package. She told NBC News that the GOP plan “is not our final offer.”
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Article URL : https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/10/biden-infrastructure-plan-mitch-mcconnell-says-bill-should-cost-up-to-800-billion.html