Senate passes infrastructure plan. What’s in it for New Jersey?

TRENTON – Both of New Jersey’s senators supported the roughly $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. Senate Tuesday in a bipartisan vote.

All 50 of the Democrats in the Senate voted for the bill, as did 19 of the 50 Republicans.

U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker said the bill, which resulted from months of bipartisan negotiations, will provide record spending on improving New Jersey’s aging infrastructure – repairing roads and bridges, expanding mass transit, building the Gateway Project and more.

“This landmark legislation will help create millions of good-paying jobs throughout our country, strengthen our national security, and bolster our economy -- making us more economically competitive with other nations,” Booker said.

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“We have turned President Biden’s pledge to ‘Build Back Better’ from a slogan into a once-in-a-generation investment that will put millions of people to work building a more competitive, equitable, and sustainable economy for the 21st century,” Menendez said.

The bill still requires approval in the House of Representatives, where Democrats have a slim majority and some progressives have said the bill doesn’t go far enough addressing topics like climate change.

U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-Ringoes, in a Monday appearance in Westfield with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, said he is confident the House will pass will pass the bill.

Robert Briant Jr., chief executive officer of the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey, said the bill would create thousands of good-paying jobs.

“This package represents exactly what the country needs right now: a long-term, properly funded plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure,” Briant said.