The U.S Senate passed the most controversial infrastructure bill, HR3684, to the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The vote was 69-30 in the 100-seat chamber, with 19 Republicans in favor.
A bipartisan bill proposes roughly $1trillion in funding for roads, bridges, and major infrastructure projects. After votes concluded, Senators began voting on a follow-up $3.5 trillion spending package that Democrats plan to pass without Republican votes.
However, the bill suggests implementing strict rules on businesses handling cryptocurrencies and expanding reporting requirements for brokers. The bill mandated that digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 have to report to the IRS.
Despite the lack of an amendment clarifying the crypto language in the bill, Portman, Warner, Sinema, and Wyden voted in favor of the bill. Lummis and Toomey voted Nay for the bill. Pat Toomey, said the legislation was “too expensive, too expansive, too unpaid for and too threatening to the innovative cryptocurrency economy” in his reasons for not voting in favor of the bill.
“This legislation imposes a badly flawed, and in some cases unworkable, cryptocurrency tax reporting mandate that threatens future technological innovation,” added Toomey.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeatedly said that her chamber will not accept any bills. The bill still needs to pass in the House of Representatives, which is on recess until September. On Tuesday evening House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the chamber would return Aug. 23 to consider the budget resolution.
Also Read: Senator Refuses Crypto Tax Provision in The Infrastructure Bill
The Senate will next vote on a budget resolution in the coming days to unlock the reconciliation process. The Chamber began a so-called-vote-a-rama where senators consider an indefinite number of nonbinding amendments to resolution- on Tuesday afternoon.
However, lawmakers in the House still have the opportunity to amend the language on crypto before a full vote in the chamber and the bill being signed into law by President Joe Biden.
