WASHINGTON – The Concord Coalition said today that the Senate should not vote on final passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill until it has found a way to close the $256 billion of deficits between 2021 and 2031 that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates would be added by the legislation.

“They need to fill the budget potholes,” said Concord Coalition executive director Robert L Bixby. “Proponents of this bill have said from the beginning that it would be paid for. Under CBO’s scoring, that goal has not been met. There is still time, however, to find additional offsets or trim some of the new spending. It’s worth the effort. As we move beyond immediate pandemic-related spending, where deficit concerns could be set aside, it is particularly important for policy makers to ensure that new spending commitments do not add to the unsustainable structural path of debt that existed long before the pandemic hit. “