5 Things Every Granite Stater Should Know About the Infrastructure Package
Today we passed a bipartisan package that makes a historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure. Over the last few months, I worked with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to ensure that this package represented the needs of New Hampshire, pushing for provisions that would expand high-speed internet access, support coastal resilience, invest in clean energy, and strengthen cybersecurity.
This bipartisan infrastructure package is a gamechanger for New Hampshire. Here are just a few reasons why:
1. Too many of New Hampshire’s bridges and roads need serious restoration — and this package has the dollars to help repair them.
The bill includes $110 billion — a record-level investment — for our roads, bridges, and highways as well as for improving road safety. Earlier this summer, I visited the Bunker Creek Bridge Replacement Project, where I saw firsthand the critical importance of projects like these.
2. In today’s economy, high-speed internet is essential. This package would help expand broadband access to Granite Staters, especially in rural communities.
I pushed for this bill to provide a historic investment to build high-speed internet — and it does it to the tune of $65 billion. It delegates funding to states for broadband deployment and access, including a *minimum* of $100 million for New Hampshire alone, and there is also additional funding to help families afford high-speed internet at home.
3. All aboard! This bipartisan package is expanding passenger rail.
Passenger rail has significant potential in New Hampshire, expanding options for commuters and tourists. This bill includes a number of provisions that I worked on that could be used to help develop the Capitol Corridor, which would connect Nashua, Manchester, and Concord to Boston by train.
4. Dangerous PFAS chemicals shouldn’t be in our drinking water. This bill will help us root out PFAS contamination in New Hampshire.
No parent should have to worry about what’s in the water their children drink — but some communities in New Hampshire and across the U.S. have drinking water contaminated with PFAS. This package includes $10 billion specifically to address PFAS contamination as well as a provision I worked on that will help ensure that towns in New Hampshire can get the funding that they need to remove PFAS from drinking water.
5. Our state’s dams and waterways are in need of repair. This package takes that on.
I pushed to include funding to improve the efficiency, safety, and usability of our dams and waterways. This package includes $67 million for federal assistance to state agency dam safety activities. There is also significant funding for restoring fish passages in our waterways and improving the health of our rivers and wildlife.
