Congress just passed the infrastructure bill. Here’s five ways it will help Kansas and Missouri
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill late Friday night that will give billions to states for projects ranging from highway and bridge repair to discounts for broadband internet. The 228-to-206 vote came after months of infighting between moderate and progressive Democrats.
Missouri Rep. Cori Bush was one of six Democrats who voted against the bill. She said it could give up leverage needed to pass the sweeping $1.75 trillion budget package that contains Democratic priorities like combating climate change, expanding access to healthcare and providing universal prekindergarten.
There are not yet specifics on how much money will go to cities in the new infrastructure legislation. But here are five areas where the money will help Kansas and Missouri.
Roads and Bridges
There are nearly 2,000 miles of highways in poor condition in Kansas and another 7,576 miles in Missouri, according to the White House.
Kansas is slated to get $2.6 billion to repair highways over the next five years, just shy of the $3 billion the state spent over the last decade to preserve roads through the T-Works project.
Missouri will get $6.5 billion for roads over the next five years. In the 2019 fiscal year, Missouri’s Department of Transportation spent $1.5 billion on roads and bridges.
The bill also allocates money to fix the 1,321 miles of bridges in poor condition in Kansas and the 2,190 miles in Missouri. Kansas and Missouri will get $225 million and $484 million respectively over the next five years.
Both states will be able to apply for additional funding for specific projects through a $12.5 billion fund to fix important bridges and a $16 billion fund for road projects that spur economic development.
Kansas City is already in the running on four projects, according to Maggie Green, a spokeswoman for Kansas City: a pedestrian bridge over Brush Creek, improvements to Cliff Drive, a Blue Trace Trail connector and a pedestrian mall in the 18th and Vine District.
Electric Cars
Several parts of the bill attempt to scale back emissions from cars. One of the goals is to build up a network of vehicle charging stations to make long distance traveling easier for people who drive electric.
Kansas will be eligible for $40 million over five years to install more stations while Missouri will be eligible for $99 million.
Both states will be able to apply for additional funding to build stations in rural and under-served communities, to buy zero-emission school buses and fund projects to decrease emissions from freight movement, like trucks.
Consumer advocacy groups have been critical of Kansas’ laws surrounding electric vehicles. It currently costs more than double to register an electric vehicle in Kansas. In Missouri, it is half the cost of registering a car that runs on gas.
Broadband
There are 330,000 Missourians who do not have access to broadband internet, according to the White House. In Kansas, 71,000 have no internet access and 2% of the population lives where there is no broadband.
To improve access, the bill includes $100 million for Kansas to expand broadband infrastructure and $100 million for Missouri.
The bill also includes grant money to help people afford internet access. In Kansas, 669,000 will be eligible for a discount on their internet service through the Affordable Connectivity Benefit. More than 1.6 million people in Missouri will be eligible.
The new program expands a measure put in place during the pandemic. It would give a monthly $30 discount on internet service for anyone making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline, or $53,000 for a family of four.
Clean Water
Kansas is expected to get $454 million over four years to improve water infrastructure across the state. Missouri is expected to get $866 million over five years.
The money can be used for stormwater infrastructure, water conservation, wastewater treatment systems, watershed pilot projects and construction of publicly owned water treatment.
Both states can also apply for grants to reduce the amount of lead in drinking water and to do lead testing in schools.
There’s a $500 million program where states can get money to add households to existing water infrastructure and a $25 million effort to build up and train people who work on water and wastewater utilities.
Public Transportation
Missouri is slated to get $674 million to improve public transportation over the next five years, while Kansas is allocated $272 million.
Both states would also be able to apply to a program to transition their public transportation fleets to become zero-emission.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Congress just passed the infrastructure bill. Here’s five ways it will help Kansas and Missouri."