CommonSense Americans are proud to have played an important role in passing the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

CASE STUDY

South Lawn of the White House, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

America’s Infrastructure Gets a C-

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) graded six infrastructure categories in their 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Overall American infrastructure was given a grade of C-, and our supply chain is feeling the effects. Extended transit times during the pandemic have exposed the supply chain inefficiencies that are the result of chronic underinvestment in infrastructure.

Thousands of members of CommonSense American have reviewed the 2021 Infrastructure Brief and shared their views. The brief assesses the infrastructure need and compares President Biden’s original American Jobs Plan, the Senate Republican’s Plan, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan that ultimately passed.

ASCE ESTIMATES

C-

Current Grade

Trend - Slightly Up

251B

Funding needed to raise to a "B" Grade

Strong Support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

In the infrastructure brief the plans presented by the President and the Republicans had support from their political bases, but not broad support. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, created by a bipartisan coalition of Democrat and Republican Senators, did have broad support from CommonSense Americans of all political leanings.

Creating CommonSense Solutions

Members of CommonSense American effectively address issues such as infrastructure legislation using these four steps:

IDENTIFY ISSUES

Our members identify meaningful solutions with the greatest promise of attracting broad, cross-partisan support like Infrastructure and Surprise Medical Billing.

DEVELOP BRIEFS

Our staff develops a thorough policy brief on each issue.

WEIGH IN

Each member reviews the brief and weighs in on the policy questions.

ENGAGE CONGRESS

Each member shares their own views with their members of Congress and CommonSense American staff conduct briefings with members of Congress on the national results.

With members in all 50 states, our balanced membership reflects the nation both politically and geographically.

Because our members are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, members of Congress and their staff tell us they value our members views more than partisan and special interest advocates. Members of Congress appreciate hearing the informed views of the voters who put them in office and will decide if they stay.

Political Affiliation of our Members

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CommonSense American Made a Difference

Read: President Biden signed bipartisan Infrastructure legislation

We can take great satisfaction in having been a meaningful part of this bipartisan, practical solution. The thousands of CommonSense Americans who reviewed our brief strongly supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

See the impact our work had on shaping the outcome of this bill:

HARD INFRASTRUCTURE

Some of the early proposals included investments that many members of CommonSense American said weren’t really infrastructure. That input helped the Senate produce the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill which focused on “hard infrastructure” like roads and bridges, public transit, water systems, and broadband.

SENATE PASSED THE BILL ON A 69-30 BIPARTISAN VOTE

On August 9, USA Today published Executive Director Keith Allred’s piece highlighting our findings that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill received substantially more support than President Biden’s original American Jobs Plan or the Senate Republicans’ Plan. On August 10, the Senate passed the bill on a 69-30 bipartisan vote.

HOUSE PASSED INFRASTRUCTURE BILL WITHOUT LINKING IT TO THE RECONCILIATION BILL

Some members of the House said they wouldn’t vote for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill without a vote on the Reconciliation Bill with Democratic spending priorities. On the morning of November 11, The Hill published Keith Allred’s piece about the overwhelming majority of CommonSense Americans who believed that infrastructure should not be held hostage to the Democratic spending priorities bill. Just before midnight that day, the House passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. In the end, only six progressive Democrats voted against the infrastructure bill because the reconciliation bill has not yet been voted on, and 13 Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill.

DIRECT ENGAGEMENT

Along the long and winding way, we engaged members of President Biden’s Staff, 42 Senators, and 178 Representatives who come from both parties with our results. The views of the thousands of CommonSense Americans who weighed in played an important role in this rare example of Congress acting in a bipartisan way to make commonsense investments in our nation’s infrastructure.

PARTNERING WITH LIKE-MINDED ORGANIZATIONS

Keith Allred is also the Issues Working Group co-chair of the Bridging Movement Alignment Council (BMAC). This is a group of more than 40 nonprofit leaders dedicated to bridging divides in a polarized nation. Nine BMAC organizations participated in six events and efforts to educate and convene Americans in discussion on the infrastructure bill. Read the report on the efforts related to infrastructure.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. arrive before a ceremony where President Joe Biden will sign into law the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on November 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Oliver Contreras/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images). Both are part of the Common Sense Coalition, who helped craft the infrastructure bill.

Ending surprise medical bills, passing bipartisan infrastructure legislation, and supporting congressional reform are major achievements. But, we’re just getting started. We invite you to join us as we tackle more issues together.

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