Both of South Dakota’s Republican U.S. senators oppose the $1 trillion dollar infrastructure bill. The Senate passed the legislation, which now goes to the House.
Senator Mike Rounds participated in months-long negotiations on the bipartisan legislation. However, he says the final bill includes “progressive mandates and federal funding clawbacks” that he can’t support.
Rounds’ team has not responded to requests for further clarification on those provisions. Rounds missed the vote on the bill. He was with his wife, who is undergoing cancer treatment.
John Thune voted against the bill. He says the bill should be fully paid for, which he says is not the case in the legislation.
The package is financed through a combination of methods like repurposing unspent COVID-19 relief funds and tax enforcement for cryptocurrencies. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the bill would add about 256 billion dollars in deficits over 10 years.