Infrastructure bill would add $256 billion to deficits over a decade, CBO says - CNBC

A woman holds an umbrella against the sun as she walks the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, days after the removal of security fencing, during a heat wave in Washington, July 12, 2021.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

The bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill would add $256 billion to budget deficits over a decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday.

The report from the nonpartisan agency did not take into account potential revenue increases created by economic growth. As it stands, the CBO said the bill, which does not include tax increases, would generate about $50 billion in revenue.

Senators who crafted the plan had said it would be fully paid for through a range of sources including repurposed coronavirus relief funds, unused unemployment insurance aid and economic activity generated by the investments.

In a statement responding to the CBO estimate, lead infrastructure negotiators Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz., said the bill's spending "is offset through a combination of new revenue and savings, some of which is reflected in the formal CBO score and some of which is reflected in other savings and additional revenue identified in estimates, as CBO is limited in what it can include in its formal score." They said they would work to get the bill passed by Congress and signed into law.

The Senate was considering amendments to the bill Thursday, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., aims to pass it before early next week. The release of the CBO report was one of the key steps remaining before the Senate votes on the proposal.