Originally published in The Daily Local.


Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th, of Easttown, Thursday passed the Moving Forward Act through the U.S. House of Representatives. The Moving Forward Act is a dynamic package of legislation that delivers the necessary funding to address crumbling infrastructure across the country.

“I have been adamant in my pursuit of bold and bipartisan infrastructure funding to fix the crumbling infrastructure in our community and Commonwealth,” said Houlahan. “Last July, I stood in front of Reading’s Penn Street Bridge, a ‘poor-rated’ bridge that carries high volumes of commuters over the Schuylkill River, and announced my goal of bringing home federal dollars to our Commonwealth to address, among other things, the nearly 300 structurally deficient bridges in our community alone. The Moving Forward Act, I’m proud to stay, takes this crucial first step. I urge the Senate to act swiftly and pass this bipartisan legislation so we can deliver this win to Pennsylvanians and to Americans everywhere.”

The Moving Forward Act will:

• Rebuild our highways, bridges, transit, rail, airports, ports and harbors by investing nearly $500 billion to improve safety, reduce gridlock and put the U.S. on a path toward zero emissions from the transportation sector, all while protecting American jobs with strong Buy America provisions and labor protections.

• Invest $130 billion investment in school infrastructure targeted at high-poverty schools that do not meet health and safety standards, while also creating 2 million jobs.

• Modernize our energy infrastructure for a clean energy future by investing more than $70 billion to transform our electric grid, promote new renewable energy infrastructure and strengthen existing infrastructure, help develop an electric vehicle charging network and support energy efficiency and climate resilience.

• Invest over $100 billion in affordable housing.

• Expand affordable high-speed Internet to underserved communities with a $100 billion.

• Upgrade hospitals and health care infrastructure by investing $30 billion to increase capacity and strengthen care, help community health centers respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies, improve clinical laboratory infrastructure, support the Indian Health Service’s infrastructure and increase capacity for community-based care.

• Ensure all communities have clean water by investing tens of billions to remove. dangerous contaminants from our drinking water.

• Deliver a 21st Century Postal Service by modernizing infrastructure and pursuing a zero-emissions postal fleet.