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A group of senators said it reached a bipartisan agreement on highway funding a day after Republicans rejected the Biden administration’s trimmed-down $1.7 trillion infrastructure proposal.

President Joe Biden’s infrastructure funding agenda was scaled down to about $1.7 trillion amid ongoing pushback from the Republican leadership in the Senate, which on May 27 outlined a $928 billion counterproposal.

WASHINGTON — Negotiations between the White House and Republican senators over President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan are reaching a crucial stage before more talks May 21 after the latest offer from GOP lawmakers left some dismay in the administration that there wasn’t more movement from their initial $568 billion proposal.

The leaders of the congressional tax-writing committees remain divided over how to fund comprehensive infrastructure policy legislation that President Joe Biden would prefer to enact this year.

Legislation that would authorize $400 billion over five years for surface transportation programs was unveiled by Republican policymakers in the U.S. House of Representatives May 19.

President Joe Biden and Senate Republicans have a greater than 50-50 chance of striking a deal on infrastructure, in the view of top GOP negotiator Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on May 19 reinstated an Obama-era pilot program that aims to aid minority and disadvantaged people by ensuring local hiring for public works construction projects, reversing a decision by the Trump administration.

Electric vehicle charging opportunities should be prioritized as a strategy as Minnesota embraces transportation electrification, according to participants of a public engagement session held May 17.

Legislation to help localities gain access to funding for infrastructure projects was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, executives of 25 multinational companies — including Cellcentric, Cummins and Nikola Motor Co. — called for major new investments in hydrogen infrastructure in California.