The White House’s Build Back Better framework, presented on Thursday, revises major climate change initiatives, maintains financing for universal pre-kindergarten, and abandons prior promises for paid family and medical leave.
Pres. Biden unveiled the measures inside his “Build Back Better” Bill. (Photo: NBC Chicago)
Biden’s $1.75 Trillion “Build Back Better Bill”
In a recently published article in NBC News, the legislation has the potential to be revolutionary. It would compel several states to establish a universal preschool program for the first time, invest billions in child care subsidies, and create a new set of tax credits to encourage renewable energy transitions. A new 15 percent corporate minimum tax and a new surtax on millionaires and billionaires would also be used to fund it.
All of this, however, falls well short of the Democrats’ initial ambition for the bill, which included long-term investments in paid family leave, free community college, and Medicare dental and vision coverage. Because Democrats require all 50 Senators to approve the plan via budget reconciliation, major adjustments to the framework have been made to appease centrist senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
Important Benefits Millions of Americans to Receive
Here are the benefits that millions of Americans will receive if this legislation will be signed into law, according to a published article in VOX News.
$400 Billion for Early Childhood Education and Child Care
Funding for free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds is included in the framework, and it will remain for six years. Currently, only a few states, notably Vermont and Florida, provide universal pre-K, while the majority do not. It also includes significant money to assist families in covering the expenses of child care, which will be available for the next six years. Families earning up to 250 percent of a state’s median income would not be required to spend more than 7 percent of their yearly income for child care under this legislation.
$200 Billion for the Child Tax Credit
The Build Back Better Act would continue for one year the enhanced amounts for the child tax credit set in Biden’s stimulus plan earlier this year,$3,000 per year for children over 5, $3,600 per year for smaller children, before reverting to $2,000 per year for all children. In 2023 and later, under Biden’s proposal, qualifying families would still get $2,000 per year per kid, up from zero dollars under the prior rule.
$165 Billion for Healthcare
The framework proposed on Thursday would boost private insurance subsidies for those who now get them and extend them to additional middle-class people who buy coverage individually via the legislation. People who have been left uninsured as a result of their state’s refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would be eligible for free private insurance via the law’s marketplaces. After 2025, the new subsidies would be phased off.
