Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today joined President Joe Biden at the White House for the signing of the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The legislation will invest more than $2.5 billion in Rhode Island’s aging infrastructure, creating jobs and retooling the American economy for the twenty-first century as the nation continues to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is an honor to join President Biden on this historic occasion,” said Whitehouse. “I worked across the aisle to bring $1.7 billion home to Rhode Island to upgrade our aging roads and bridges and to create good union jobs over the next five years. There’s so much good news for Rhode Island in this bill, and I just can’t wait get shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky across the Ocean State.”
The bipartisan infrastructure bill will send approximately $1.7 billion to Rhode Island for highway and bridge upgrades over five years. Whitehouse worked to secure the highway and bridge funding as a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
In addition, Rhode Island is set to receive $272 million for public transit, $23 million for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, $100 million for broadband, $45 million for airports, and $10.9 million to protect against cyberattacks. Also included in the legislation are $8 billion for the Whitehouse-created INFRA program to pay for large-scale public works projects across the country, $7.3 billion for a new nationwide fund to make infrastructure more resilient, and $492 million for the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund, among other Whitehouse priorities.
More information about the funding coming to Rhode Island through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is available here.
Meaghan McCabe, (401) 453-5294
