CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As the ink from President Biden's signature is still drying on the $1.9 trillion dollars stimulus package, congress is looking ahead to the next big dollar item on its agenda.
The president campaigned on a $2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill, however some democrats are looking at raising the price tag to $4 trillion.
In addition to traditional road and bridge projects, the measure will reportedly be climate-oriented and designed to help the country compete with foreign governments.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, (R), West Virginia says she's hopeful democrats will work with republicans on a bipartisan measure, something that didn't happen with the stimulus plan.
Eyewitness News Reporter Kennie Bass asked the senator, "It looks like there is a lot of bipartisan talk on Capitol Hill, unless and until the democrats decide that they really want something and then it's play it our way or we're just gonna pass it through. So in reality on the really important issues do you think we can get to bipartisanship or are we going to see a replay of what happened with the stimulus bill?"
"But I am discouraged," Capito said. "I am discouraged that the president chose COVID relief, where we've had a lot of like mindedness to, to bring it forward to the American public to have it become strictly partisan. And then a wish list, a democratic wish list into it at the same time driving up the cost of a trillion dollars. I'm gonna remain optimistic here but I have a little bit of a jaded eye here. At the end of the day if they wanna, they being the democrats, decide that they want to go bigger or in different directions than what they think they could ever pick up a republican voice they will go through reconciliation and ram it through."
With work just starting to formulate the bulk of the infrastructure bill and figuring out how to pay for it, the senator says a final vote on Capitol Hill is likely still months away.