Infrastructure bill means billions for Montana roads, bridges, national parks

Montana will benefit from the recently passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, Montana Sen. Jon Tester said in a press call Monday morning.

“This legislation is projected to create 800,000 U.S. jobs,” Tester said. He also noted that all the steel used in the projects is required to be made in the U.S.

The bill was signed into law on Monday by President Biden.

He said he was proud to have worked with Democrats, Republicans and the White House to get the bill, which has been in the works for months, passed.

The bill will provide more than $3 billion for Montana’s highways and bridges, Tester said. It also includes billions for broadband Internet expansion in rural areas and $144 million for Montana’s airports.

It also has billions for rural water projects and to settle Indian water rights claims in Montana, including up to $100 million for rehabilitating the Milk River Project.

The Blackfeet Tribe will see $40 million in funds to upgrade its sewer and water systems.

The National Park Service will also see about $1.7 billion from the bill.

The investments will be spread out over five years. The National Parks Conservation Association says about 40% of all Park Service Roads need repair.

While Glacier National Park has seen significant road repairs in the past 10 years, there is still work to be done on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and the Two Medicine Road.

The Two Medicine Road has some severe slumps.

While Tester, a Democrat, supported the bill, his Montana Republican colleagues did not.

“From the beginning of this debate, I warned the Democrats will use the massive ‘infrastructure’ spending proposal as a stepping stone to pass their larger, reckless tax and spending spree that will push the U.S. down the path of socialism—we saw that happen in the House last night. Both proposals will significantly increase the national debt and represent one of the largest expansions of the federal government in history,” Danies said after the bill passed the House.

He was also referring, in part, to President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which looks to offer free two year college, universal preschool, expanded Medicare and subsidies for electric cars, among other things.

“It is irresponsible for Congress to force the American taxpayer to fund an infrastructure bill that barely touches on infrastructure,” Rosendale said in a release. “A country cannot tax and spend its way into prosperity. This bill will add to our spiraling national debt and burden Americans with the crippling impacts of the Left’s inflationary policy.”