Sen. Markey optimistic Democrats can pass social infrastructure package

As he called in to Tuesday’s Boston Public Radio, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts was mere minutes away from a meeting with all 50 Senate Democrats to work toward a plan for President Joe Biden’s social infrastructure package.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said, speaking optimistically about his party’s odds of reaching consensus on the Build Back Better bill before the end of their self-imposed deadline.

“It’s a Democrat-only conversation, and I’m very confident that we can resolve the differences,” he told hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan.

With just 50 Democrats in the Senate, Markey and his colleagues will need to reach a full and total consensus in order to pass the multi-trillion dollar legislation that addresses a slew of social issues, including — but not limited to — family care, affordable housing, education and the climate crisis.

A $2.2 trillion version of the bill passed in the House of Representatives earlier in November, but experts say substantial changes are likely necessary for the bill to gain favor of more conservative Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

“Our job is to persuade him — and we’re trying very hard — that these provisions actually help West Virginia,” Markey said of his colleague.

Using the example of the state’s diminishing coal industry, Markey said provisions in the legislation could help residents transition away from coal jobs and toward more lucrative green energy jobs.

“The coal industry was 50 percent of all electricity in the year 2000,” Markey noted. “Now it’s down to 20 percent. So it’s going down, and it’s going to be inevitably heading in that direction. This bill gives West Virginia resources to help them to build a transition for their economy.”

According to a recent Gallup poll, national favorability of Senate Democrats dropped to just 21 percent in October. Asked about the sagging public approval of Washington Democrats, Markey agreed that they'll need to do a better job advertising accomplishments to the American public, including those in the trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law this November.

He added that this latest social infrastructure legislation could go a long way toward giving Democrats an edge in the coming midterm elections.

“We’re gonna win on the specifics,” he said. “As soon as it is clear what is inside of the Build Back Better bill, there is going to be a corresponding increase in the favorability of Joe Biden, and Democratic congressional and senate candidates all across the country in 2022.”

Markey and his colleagues have their work cut out for them. In addition to Build Back Better, they’ll also need to pass the Senate’s annual defense budget and spending bills before the end of the year.