What’s In The House Passed Build Back Better Act

On Friday morning, the House of Representatives, by a 220 to 213 vote, passed the Build Back Better Act and sent it to the Senate for consideration and amendments. Debate in the Senate is expected to last several weeks.

Now that the Build Back Better bill has gone back to the Senate, final changes could still be made, requiring further negotiations before it finally is approved by both houses of Congress.

As of right now, here is what is in – and what is not in – the legislation.

 

What’s In

$400 billion for childcare and universal preschool. The plan is designed to save most American families more than half of their spending on childcare by providing two years of free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in America and additional funding for childcare.

Family and medical leave. Permanently authorizes the first-ever national paid family and medical leave guarantee for U.S. workers that provides up to four weeks of paid leave.

$200 billion for Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Credit. The proposal extends the expanded Child Tax Credit for one year and provides additional funds to extend the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit.

$150 billion for home care. This funding expands home care for older people and those with disabilities.

$150 billion for housing. The plan invests in affordable housing, including construction and rehabilitation of homes, as well as investments in rental assistance and housing vouchers.

$40 billion higher ed and workforce development. The legislation will increase Pell grants and provide post-high school education opportunities including apprenticeship programs for underserved communities.

$25 billion for the Small Business Committee. This provides for small business access to credit, investment, and markets.

$90 billion for equity and other investments. Spending in this area will be designed to achieve equity through investments in maternal health, community violence interventions, and nutrition according to the White House.

$5 billion in supply chain investments. These investments will be designed to safeguard our economy and support domestic job growth.

$10 billion to support child nutrition. This investment will help expand eligibility and eliminate paperwork so more children can receive free school meals.

State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction relief. Accomplished by increasing and applying the cap over the long-term, allowing states and counties to raise more revenue to deliver essential public services.

Agreement to lower prescription drugs costs. The compromise plan would reduce the price of insulin and halt drug price hikes above inflation, which affects all Americans. Older Americans in particular would benefit from Medicare’s ability to negotiate prescription drug prices in its Part B and Part D program. In addition, the compromise limits Medicare out-of-pocket copays and caps drug costs for Medicare recipients at $2,000 per year.

$130 billion in ACA credits. This money will be used to expand affordable healthcare coverage, reduce premiums for more than 9 million Americans, and deliver healthcare to uninsured people in states that are not enrolled in expanded Medicaid coverage.

$35 billion Medicare hearing coverage. While dental and vision coverage did not make the cut, Medicare recipients will have coverage for hearing aids and hearing tests. The funding will also cover nursing home transparency and staffing standards, and bolster funding for the Elder Justice Act program.

$550+ billion for clean energy and climate. The plan proposes cutting greenhouse gas pollution by over a gigaton in 2030, reducing consumer energy costs, helping to create more clean air and water, and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Corporate alternative minimum tax. A 15% minimum tax on companies whose financial statements show at least $1 billion in profit—proposed by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), Angus King (I., Maine) and Ron Wyden (D., Ore.)—has been added to the current Build Back Better legislation to help fund it.

$100 billion for immigration. This is part of the framework, but also separate since it requires a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian. This would constitute an investment to reform the immigration system, reduce backlogs, expand legal representation, and make border processing more efficient and humane.

What’s Out

Medicare dental and vision benefits. Although these became victims of the budgeting axe, hearing aids and testing survived the cut.

Free community college. Expansion of Pell grants and apprenticeship training remains, but free community college was taken out.

Billionaires income tax. This funding plan, which would have taxed the unrealized gains of certain assets of around 700 of the richest taxpayers in the country and helped fund the legislation, was removed.

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