Read the Bill

The Infrastructure Investment and Modernization Act of 2026 — let's call it what it is: a spending bill wearing work boots — just cleared committee with a $412 billion price tag. The name says infrastructure. The line items say something else.

Of the $412 billion, approximately $158 billion — 38% — goes to actual physical infrastructure: roads, bridges, ports, broadband, and water systems. The remaining $254 billion is allocated to "workforce development," "climate resilience," "equity in transportation planning," and "community transformation grants."

That last category alone accounts for $47 billion. Community transformation grants. I read the program description three times. It funds "holistic neighborhood revitalization with climate-justice and equity-centered planning." That's $47 billion for a sentence that means nothing.

The Numbers Behind the Numbers

Here's what actual infrastructure funding looks like in this bill: $34 billion for highway maintenance (against an American Society of Civil Engineers estimate of $786 billion needed over the next decade). $18 billion for bridge repairs (against a backlog of 45,000 structurally deficient bridges). $12 billion for rural broadband (against an estimated 42 million Americans lacking reliable high-speed internet).

These are underfunded compared to actual need. The money exists in the bill — it's just going to other things.

Meanwhile, $23 billion goes to "transportation electrification." $31 billion to "green building retrofits." $19 billion to "climate workforce training." Each of these programs may have individual merit. None of them fix the potholes on I-35.

When everything is infrastructure, nothing is infrastructure. And when a bill designed to fix roads spends more on climate consultants than concrete, the priorities are clear — and they're not yours.

Who Benefits

Follow the money. The consulting firms that manage "equity-centered planning" processes. The non-profit organizations that receive "community transformation" grants. The training companies that deliver "climate workforce" programs. These are the beneficiaries of the 62% that doesn't build anything.

The construction workers, engineers, and tradespeople who actually build infrastructure? They get 38 cents on every dollar. And they'll be competing for those dollars against prevailing wage requirements and project labor agreements that increase construction costs by 15-25%.

Your roads won't get fixed. But someone's going to get very rich explaining why.