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Cooper: Chattanooga, like the country, has fallen behind on funding its infrastructure needs

In this June 14, 2021, file photo the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington as the House and Senate return to work. Congress is hunkered down, grinding through an eight-week stretch as the president's Democratic allies in the House and Senate try to shape his big infrastructure ideas into bills that could actually be signed into law. Perhaps not since the drafting of Obamacare more than a decade ago has Washington tried a legislative lift as heavy as this. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
In this June 14, 2021, file photo the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington as the House and Senate return to work. Congress is hunkered down, grinding through an eight-week stretch as the president's Democratic allies in the House and Senate try to shape his big infrastructure ideas into bills that could actually be signed into law. Perhaps not since the drafting of Obamacare more than a decade ago has Washington tried a legislative lift as heavy as this. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) In this June 14, 2021, file photo the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington as the House and Senate return to work. Congress is hunkered down, grinding through an eight-week stretch as the president's Democratic allies in the House and Senate try to shape his big infrastructure ideas into bills that could actually be signed into law. Perhaps not since the drafting of Obamacare more than a decade ago has Washington tried a legislative lift as heavy as this. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

By Clint Cooper 4 min read

Up in Washington, D.C., members of Congress are trying to figure out how to pass an infrastructure bill that both Democrats and Republicans say they wanted yesterday.

The reason it hasn’t passed depends on what side you’re on, but suffice it to say there’s some $1.2 trillion in spending – including $600 billion in new spending for what’s termed “hard” infrastructure – that most members say they’re willing to back.

That amount includes spending for the likes of roads, bridges, the power grid, public transportation and the internet. They’re big-ticket items that most Congress members can agree are the general responsibility of government to create and maintain.

It’s the things in the other bill being put together in the Capitol – such as massive spending on climate change, education, paid leave and child care benefits – that it will be almost impossible to find consensus on.

Down in Chattanooga, the Tim Kelly administration last Tuesday submitted a report, called “Under the Hood,” that laid before the Chattanooga City Council some of the challenges the city faces in repairing and maintaining its infrastructure.