Tag Archives: infrastructure

Mother Jones reports: In recent days, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell credited President Biden with helping to get the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed in the Senate, but said he doesn’t anticipate many more opportunities for Republicans to work with Democrats. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Kentucky Republican also dismissed criticism from former President Donald Trump …

The New York Times reports: The Senate gave overwhelming bipartisan approval to a $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Tuesday to rebuild the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges and fund new climate resilience and broadband initiatives, delivering a key component of President Biden’s agenda. The vote, 69-30, was uncommonly bipartisan; the yes votes included Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate …

Miami’s NBC News affiliate reports: A condominium in Miami is being evacuated Monday after officials deemed it an unsafe structure. An evacuation noticed was posted at the entrance of the building at 5050 NW 7th Street. Hundreds of residents from 137 units had only hours to leave, according to a city official. “We have a lot of elderly owners here …

Politico reports: President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal cleared its final serious Senate hurdle Sunday night, putting the legislation on a glide path to passage as soon as late Monday. In a 68-29 vote, the Senate closed down debate on a bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of 10 senators that spends $550 billion in new money on the nation’s …

Reuters reports: Lawmakers were working behind closed doors to reach an agreement on amendments that could allow the Senate to complete its work on the legislation as early as Saturday night. Republican Senator Bill Hagerty took to the Senate floor to underscore his opposition to expediting the process, saying the legislation would add to the national debt and set the …

From the world’s most famous crybaby loser: Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill is a disgrace. If Mitch McConnell was smart, which we’ve seen no evidence of, he would use the debt ceiling card to negotiate a good infrastructure package. This is a 2,700 page bill that no one could have possibly read—they would have needed to take speed reading courses. It …

The Associated Press reports: After much delay, senators unveiled a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, wrapping up days of painstaking work on the inches-thick bill and launching what is certain to be a lengthy debate over President Joe Biden’s big priority. Despite the hurry-up-and-wait during a rare weekend session, emotions bubbled over once the bill was produced Sunday night. …

The Arizona Republic reports: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema does not support Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget plan that aims to deliver major components of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda that Democrats hope to pass after moving a separate bipartisan infrastructure deal that Sinema negotiated. Sinema, D-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday she had reviewed the Senate Budget Committee’s spending framework and …

Politico reports: Donald Trump tried and failed to pass an infrastructure bill so many times over the course of his presidency that his attempts were reduced to a punchline. Now out of office, Trump is trying to ensure that his successor, Joe Biden, suffers the indignity of the “infrastructure week” jokes as well. The former president has sounded off repeatedly …

Miami’s NBC News affiliate reports: Late last year, after years of delays and disputes, the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association began a desperate search for $16.2 million to fix major structural damage that was slowly threatening the Surfside high-rise — and that may have contributed to the building’s partial collapse June 24. “If the owners would have had a reserve …

The Miami Herald reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that condominiums in Florida are “kind of a dime a dozen, particularly in southern Florida,” but he would not commit to any state action to address concerns about the aging buildings, suggesting that Champlain Towers South “had problems from the start.” Speaking after a briefing on Tropical Storm Elsa at the …

The Associated Press reports: The search for victims of the collapse of a Miami-area high-rise condominium reached its 14th day on Wednesday, as workers uncovered 10 more bodies from the rubble and officials sounded more and more grim about the prospects of finding anyone alive. Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah broke the discovery of the additional bodies and human …

The New York Times reports: Florida’s high-rise building regulations have long been among the strictest in the nation. But after parts of Champlain Towers South tumbled down on June 24, killing at least 24 people and leaving 121 unaccounted for, evidence has mounted that those rules have been enforced unevenly by local governments, and sometimes not at all. Miami-Dade County …

The Miami Herald reports: Firefighters ordered residents to evacuate a low-rise condominium complex in Miami Beach Saturday night after a building inspector flagged a flooring system failure in a vacant unit and damage to exterior walls. Miami Beach firefighters responded to a call about a vacant unit in the 1600 block of Lenox Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. when they …

Miami’s NBC News affiliate reports: A condo building in North Miami Beach has been closed and residents are being evacuated Friday after an audit and building inspection report outlined unsafe structural and electrical conditions. The city of North Miami Beach ordered the 156-unit Crestview Towers Condominium, located at 2025 NE 164th St., to be closed immediately and the evacuation of …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: On Wednesday morning, county officials declared buildings housing 72 units at Images Condominiums unsafe after an engineering firm discovered several walkways leading to the units are “in danger of collapse” and posed a safety concern during an inspection, Osceola County spokesperson Chris Brumbaugh said. Residents were advised to enter the buildings containing the units at their …

Media Matters has the transcript: The Biden administration is in no mood for negotiation with suburban homeowners — screw them, with their decent schools and crime-free streets, living in their little 1950s America. According to the principles of equity, those people must be bigots, by definition. They’re living better than people who live in densely populated cities are living, therefore …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Biden and a group of centrist senators agreed to a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure plan, securing a long-sought bipartisan deal on overhauling the nation’s transportation, water and broadband infrastructure that lawmakers and the White House will now attempt to shepherd through a closely-divided Capitol Hill. “We had a really good meeting and to answer …

Washington DC’s Fox affiliate reports: Authorities say four people were hurt after a pedestrian bridge collapsed in Northeast D.C. The incident happened around 12 p.m. along Interstate 295 just prior to Polk Street. Officials say four people suffered minor injuries and were hospitalized. Emergency crews remained at the scene checking in vehicles beneath the fallen section of the bridge. Hazmat …