Infrastructure bill, budget reconciliation cut short Congress’ August recess

August 26, 2021

Work on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the budget reconciliation process have cut short Congress’ traditional August recess. Both bills passed the Senate earlier this month and are being considered in the House. These two bills will have major impacts on agriculture. The infrastructure bill will provide more than $1 trillion in funding for “hard infrastructure” such as roads, bridges, ports, and broadband.

The reconciliation process, used in past years to pass policy priorities, includes instructions to committees to report legislation to meet spending targets. Though the specifics have yet to be finalized, it is expected that the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package will provide the Senate Ag Committee with $135 billion in deficit spending, the House Ag Committee with $89 billion in deficit spending, and the House Natural Resources Committee with $25.6 billion in deficit spending. The committees would be directed to focus on a variety of issues, including climate change, the Civilian Climate Corps, reducing carbon emissions, rural development and clean energy, child nutrition, and debt relief.