Good news: The bipartisan $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden on Monday will greatly help Montana. The legislation provides $2.82 billion to rebuild Montana’s roads, bridges and highways, with an additional $225 million to fix Montana bridges in poor condition. It also provides $157 million to improve public transportation across the state; $100 million to expand high-speed internet to much of Montana; $144 million to rebuild Montana’s airports; $355 million to improve rural water projects to ensure clean, safe drinking water; and $23 million to protect our state against wildfires.
Montana will also benefit from national infrastructure investments like $50 billion to protect against droughts, heat, floods and wildfires, and invest in weatherization; $66 billion for Amtrak maintenance and development; $65 billion for clean energy transmission and power infrastructure upgrades; and funds for modernizing ports, airports and freight rail to help goods get to market quicker by reducing supply chain bottlenecks.
This infrastructure deal will also create good-paying union jobs for a long time. Please thank Sen. Jon Tester for voting for these much needed investments in our state’s infrastructure. But don’t bother to thank Sen. Steve Daines or Rep. Matt Rosendale—they voted against this infrastructure bill.
