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Infrastructure

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Oct 6, 2021 | Nick Blumberg
Cyclists of color in Chicago get a disproportionate number of tickets from police, according to reports by the Chicago Tribune. (WTTW News)

Cyclists of color in Chicago get a disproportionate number of tickets from police, according to reports by the Chicago Tribune. Bike advocates hope a new city initiative can help address the problem but say it’s not just about infrastructure.

Oct 5, 2021 | Associated Press
President Joe Biden tours the International Union Of Operating Engineers Local 324 training facility, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Howell, Mich. Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, left, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer second from left, look on. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)

Calling opponents of his plans “complicit in America’s decline,” President Joe Biden made the case Tuesday that his ambitious social spending proposal is key to America’s global competitiveness — even as he acknowledged the current $3.5 trillion price tag will shrink.

Oct 2, 2021 | Associated Press
President Joe Biden speaks with members of the press before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Washington. Biden is spending the weekend at his home in Delaware. (AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)

President Joe Biden on Saturday acknowledged frustrations as Democrats strain to rescue a scaled-back version of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan and salvage a related public works bill after frantic negotiations failed to produce a deal.

Oct 1, 2021 | Associated Press
President Joe Biden gives a thumbs up as he walks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, after attending a meeting with the House Democratic caucus to try to resolve an impasse around the bipartisan infrastructure bill. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)

Biden huddled with House Democrats in a private meeting that was part instructional, part morale booster for the tattered caucus of lawmakers, telling them he wanted both bills passed regardless of the time it takes.

Sep 26, 2021 | Associated Press
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., right, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., update reporters on Democratic efforts to pass President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

With President Joe Biden’s broad domestic agenda at risk of collapse, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday vowed that Democrats will pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill this week and push ahead on the bigger $3.5 trillion social safety net and climate change bill.

Aug 24, 2021 | Associated Press
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., leaves the chamber after urging advancement of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, named for the late Georgia congressman who made the issue a defining one of his career, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Striking a deal with moderates, House Democratic leaders muscled President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar budget blueprint over a key hurdle Tuesday, ending a risky standoff and putting the party’s domestic infrastructure agenda back on track.

Aug 11, 2021 | Heather Cherone
(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alexxis Pons Abascal)

The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan that advanced Tuesday in the Senate includes $15 billion to replace the lead service lines responsible for contaminating the tap water in approximately 10 million homes across the country.

Aug 10, 2021 | Associated Press
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the top Republican negotiator on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, works from his office on Capitol Hill as he continues to shepherd the $1 trillion legislation closer to passage, in Washington, Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

With a robust vote after weeks of fits and starts, the Senate approved a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan on Tuesday, a rare coalition of Democrats and Republicans joining to overcome skeptics and deliver a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda.

Aug 8, 2021 | Associated Press
Vice President Kamala Harris departs the Capitol after the Senate voted to advance the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Senators were laboring Sunday toward eventual passage of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, resigned to stay as long as it takes to overcome Republican holdouts who want to drag out final votes on one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities.

Aug 7, 2021 | Associated Press
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives as the Senate convenes for a rare weekend session on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate moved closer to passing a $1 trillion infrastructure package Saturday after lawmakers from both parties came together and voted to clear a key procedural hurdle, but the action soon stalled out as opponents tried to slow the rush to approve one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities.

Jul 31, 2021 | Associated Press
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., updates reporters on the infrastructure negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate convened for a rare weekend session on Saturday, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer encouraging the authors of a bipartisan infrastructure plan to finish writing their bill so that senators can begin offering amendments.

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Jul 28, 2021 | Heather Cherone
A water lead testing kit. (WTTW News)

Lead service lines connect approximately 400,000 Chicago homes with water mains buried under city streets, and can leach a brain-damaging chemical into drinking water. 

Jul 26, 2021 | Associated Press
President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., center, and Vice President Kamala Harris, right, share a laugh after the president signed H.R. 1652, the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 22, 2021. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)

Senators ran into new problems Monday as they raced to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal, with pressure mounting on all sides to show progress on President Joe Biden’s top priority.

Jul 21, 2021 | Associated Press
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP senators speak to reporters ahead of a test vote scheduled by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York on the bipartisan infrastructure deal senators brokered with President Joe Biden, in Washington, Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Republicans rejected an effort Wednesday to begin debate on the big infrastructure deal that a bipartisan group of senators brokered with President Joe Biden. But supporters in both parties remained hopeful of a better chance soon.

Jul 20, 2021 | Associated Press
The U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana)

The bipartisan infrastructure deal senators brokered with President Joe Biden is hanging precariously ahead of a crucial Wednesday test vote as senators struggle over how to pay for nearly $1 trillion in public works spending.

Jul 16, 2021 | Alexandra Silets
Sec. of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, tours the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line station with Mayor Lightfoot, CTA President Dorval Carter, Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, and Democratic members of Illinois’ congressional delegation to promote President Biden’s infrastructure plan, July 16, 2021. (WTTW News)

A possible compromise on civilian police oversight. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg takes a Chicago infrastructure tour. And legislators whiff on ethics.