• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Politics

How Congress plans to pay for the new infrastructure deal

Megan Leonhardt
By
Megan Leonhardt
Megan Leonhardt
Down Arrow Button Icon
Megan Leonhardt
By
Megan Leonhardt
Megan Leonhardt
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 29, 2021, 1:30 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Yesterday Republicans and Democrats announced they finally reached a deal to move ahead with a $1 trillion infrastructure package that would provide $550 billion in new funding for projects including roads and bridges, public transit, railroads, airports, and even high-speed internet. 

“I’m pleased to see today we were able to come together on a core infrastructure package — this is not non-infrastructure items — without new taxes and with the commitment from Republicans and Democrats alike that we are going to get this across the finish line,” Sen. Rob Portman (D-Ohio) said in remarks Wednesday. 

But if Congress isn’t raising taxes, how are lawmakers planning to pay for all this infrastructure funding? The White House said in a statement that the legislation will be financed using unspent unemployment insurance relief funds and federal emergency relief funds.

The unused relief funds from 2020 emergency relief legislation currently total about $1 trillion, according to Marc Goldwein, a senior vice president and policy director with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

“Roughly speaking, there’s probably about a $1 trillion of COVID money that’s been authorized, but hasn’t been allocated or disbursed,” Goldwein tells Fortune. “That does not mean there’s $1 trillion available to repurpose —some of that money hasn’t been spent because it just disperses over time,” he says, adding that includes measures such as the advanced child tax credit payments and enhanced unemployment benefits.

That means the amount of money from these unused relief funds that will actually be repurposed is “probably pretty small,” Goldwein says, likely less than $100 billion and closer to $50 billion.

In addition to unspent relief funds, the White House also noted that the legislation would tap targeted corporate user fees, as well as take advantage of proceeds from the increased enforcement of cryptocurrency taxes and reducing the IRS tax gap.

Lawmakers also plan to collect on 5G spectrum auction proceeds and a host of various fees and sales, including the strategic sale of petroleum reserves, profits from extending expiring customs user fees, and reinstating Superfund fees for chemicals, the White House said previously. States will also be allowed to sell and purchase toll credits, which are generated when states use toll revenues to invest in transportation projects.

The legislation is also expected to generate revenue from higher economic growth as a result of the investments, which lawmakers say will offset the cost.

But details on exactly how these financing tools would work or how much they would raise are still unclear. The Tax Foundation finds that the bill’s proposed spending on infrastructure would only generate a small amount of additional revenue, about a 5% return on investment. They estimated the previous $579 trillion package, which has been trimmed to $550 trillion now, would generate about $67 billion in revenue over 10 years.

“I think likely the bill is actually about half paid for,” Goldwein said.

Lawmakers, however, contend that the legislation would not be a drain. “This bill is paid for,” Portman said “We do it without raising taxes. We do it in a way that’s going to help in terms of our economy long-term, to make our economy more efficient, more productive.”

The Senate voted Wednesday night to start the process of getting the infrastructure plan through Congress, but the plan is not guaranteed to be implemented at this point and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has noted that lawmakers may need to work through the weekend again to get it done.

Subscribe to Fortune Daily to get essential business stories straight to your inbox each morning.

About the Author
Megan Leonhardt
By Megan Leonhardt
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Politics

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Politics

ms
PoliticsMedicaid
Some states are starting to crack down on companies that foist their workers onto Medicaid
By Geoff Mulvihill and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
12 minutes ago
ai
North AmericaImmigration
Trump’s $46 billion ‘smart wall’ with Mexico bets on AI and scale
By Rebecca Santana and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
23 minutes ago
Vladimir Putin
EconomyRussia
Russia’s economy is ‘sputtering,’ and Putin’s wartime spending model has pushed the country to an ‘economic, political, and military abyss’
By Tristan BoveJuly 2, 2026
27 minutes ago
i
AsiaIndia
India and Japan just made “economic security” a shared mission
By Sheikh Saaliq and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
28 minutes ago
sk
AISouth Korea
AI “grief videos” turn mourning into a $390 service in South Korea
By Hyung-Jin Kim and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
31 minutes ago
t
North AmericaWhite House
‘It’s a very strong deal. Nobody knows what it is’: Trump completes transformation from Master of the Deal to Great Equivocator
By Will Weissert and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
36 minutes ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Trump got a $78K pension from the Screen Actors Guild in 2025 because he appeared in Home Alone 2 in 1992
Politics
Trump got a $78K pension from the Screen Actors Guild in 2025 because he appeared in Home Alone 2 in 1992
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
Success
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.