Legislative Update
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Infrastructure Bill Passes Senate
Earlier today (August 10), by a vote of 69-30, the United States Senate passed bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package which will improve transportation, water and broadband infrastructure nationwide. The bill now heads to the House.
Following what is being hailed as a major bipartisan accomplishment, Senate leadership will take up the effort to pass a budget resolution containing spending instructions for a separate $3.5 trillion spending package via the reconciliation process. The plan includes significant social spending and spending on climate action measures. Using reconciliation will allow them to avoid a filibuster and, potentially, to pass the measure with a simple majority (all 50 Democrat senators plus Vice President Harris as the tie-breaking vote). As Senate Republicans are unified in opposition to the package, leadership will need the votes of all 50 members of the Democratic Conference.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has indicated that she will not allow House consideration of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package without Senate passage of the $3.5 trillion budget resolution.
Governor Carney Announces Mask Requirement in K-12 Schools, Child Care, State Facilities
Governor John Carney on Tuesday announced that everyone kindergarten-age and older in K-12 schools and child care homes and centers must wear face coverings indoors effective on Monday, August 16 – regardless of vaccination status. The requirement covers both public and private schools in Delaware. Child care centers and homes are strongly encouraged to require masks for children 2 years old to kindergarten inside their facilities to prevent spread of COVID-19. Children younger than 2 years old should not wear masks due to risk of suffocation.The statewide mask requirement in schools, which will be formalized later this week, is consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and will help all Delaware students safely return to classrooms full-time this fall for the 2021-2022 school year. Children younger than 12 remain ineligible for COVID-19 vaccination at this time.
