Senate votes to move forward with bipartisan infrastructure bill

Washington — The Senate voted to move forward on a bipartisan infrastructure bill after weeks of negotiations on Wednesday, clearing a key procedural hurdle on a bill that includes $550 billion in new spending for infrastructure projects around the country. $40 billion for bridge repair, replacement and rehabilitation $66 billion investment in Amtrak passenger rail  $39 billion for modernizing public transit and improving access for the elderly and people with disabilities  $55 billion for clean water investments  $65 billion in broadband internet deployment  $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle chargers nationwide 

The vote to advance the legislation Wednesday night was 67 to 32, with 17 Republicans joining Democrats in voting in favor. Sixty votes were required to move the bill forward. The text of the proposal had not yet been released when the vote took place.  As recently as this week, negotiations over the proposal appeared on the brink of collapse, but Senate Republicans announced earlier Wednesday that they had reached an agreement with the White House and Senate Democrats over the "major issues" in the bill.