DENVER (KDVR) — President Joe Biden’s plan to revitalize infrastructure around the nation cleared its first hurdle after passing through the House of Representatives.
While many are praising the bills’ goal to make transportation systems stronger, one group is calling for the bill to allocate funding to a different type of framework.
The word infrastructure has a broad meaning: covering everything from road and bridges to broadband. Colorado’s Secretary of State wants to make sure election equipment is included too.
The vote on the $715 billion proposal that would allocate millions to roads, railways and clean drinking water passed mostly along party lines, but two Republicans did vote yes.
“I appreciate President Biden’s engagement, bipartisan partnership and steadfast support for Coloradans as we build back stronger than before. Thank you to the bipartisan group of senators who are willing to step up and get real work done,” Governor Polis said Thursday.
Some elected leaders said the bill is not investing enough into system that gives Congressional members their seats.
“When we are thinking about upgrading the bridges that we cross, the roads that we cross, we also need to be thinking about our election infrastructure,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said.
Griswold and nine other secretaries of state wrote a letter to leaders of Congress, urging them to allocate $20 billion in the plan for election infrastructure.
She wants leaders to use Colorado as an example of what the nation could look like with more money for voting.
“We actually granted $7.3 million to Colorado county clerks to invest in elections and that allowed us to increase drop boxes, hundreds of more drop boxes across the state,” said Griswold.
With Colorado being a model for elections in the nation, does the state need more money? Griswold said this money is about upkeep.
“It requires a constant innovation and a constant amount of resources to make sure that our systems remain the nation’s best, and they are,” said Griswold.
The funding the secretaries are asking for would support upgrading elections throughout the next 10 years. They are hopeful President Biden will hear them out.
