Support slips for infrastructure bill: survey

Support for the bipartisan infrastructure bill is slipping, according to a new poll, after the House took months to approve the bill that the Senate passed back in August.

The survey, conducted by Morning Consult and Politico in the days after the House passed the $1.2 trillion bill, found that 50 percent of registered voters support the legislation, which is down from the 58 percent polled in August when Morning Consult asked the same question days after the Senate approved the bill.

Fifteen percent of those polled said they did not have an opinion on the bill when asked this month.

Thirty-five percent of respondents said they oppose the bill when asked this month, which is up from the 23 percent who said the same in August.

The decrease in support for the bill, which President Biden is set to sign into law Monday afternoon, is largely driven by Republicans, who saw a 23 percent drop in support over the past three months.

In August, 45 percent of those on the right said they supported the bill. This month, however, only 22 percent concurred.

Independents also saw a slight drop in support for the package between August and November, falling from 57 percent to 45 percent, a 12 point difference.

Democrats, however, remained relatively steady.

The infrastructure bill, which includes investments for projects concerning roads, bridges, broadband, water and rail, was approved on a bipartisan basis in both the House and the Senate.

Nineteen GOP senators voted with Democrats to pass the bill in August, and 13 Republicans supported the legislation in the House earlier this month.

Six progressive Democrats bucked their party and voted against the bill in protest of a lack of a vote on a larger social spending package that lawmakers are still negotiating.

The legislation includes $550 billion in new federal investments for infrastructure in the U.S. over five years.

Some moderate lawmakers were pushing for the House to approve the bill closer to when the Senate voted, but progressive lawmakers refused to consider the legislation without the larger social spending package, which was still entangled in negotiations.

Some Democrats have said the lower chamber’s failure to pass the bill and send it to Biden’s desk before the Election Day earlier this month was why Democrats lost in the Virginia gubernatorial race.