Before leaving Washington for an overseas trip, President Joe Biden is meeting with House Democrats to try and convince them to support a trimmed down version of his Build Back Better plan. The White House announced a $1.75 trillion “framework” on Thursday morning that administration officials say should gain the support of every Democratic senator and pass the House.
The White House had previously hoped to pass a $3.5 trillion package with investments in social programs, measures to fight climate change and taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations. After months of negotiations with centrists Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.), the administration significantly cut down its plan, stripping free community college, paid family leave and other measures from the package.
On Thursday, Biden will meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and urge them to support both the Build Back Better plan and the bipartisan infrastructure package that’s already passed the Senate and is waiting in the House. House progressives have insisted they wouldn’t support the bipartisan infrastructure bill until they’re satisfied with the social spending bill. It’s not clear if this “framework” will be enough for progressives to vote for the infrastructure bill. The White House did not say which lawmakers had signed off on the latest plan.
"I think that [framework] will show tremendous momentum. But we want to see the actual text because we don't want any confusion, misunderstandings. My understanding is that the framework is very general. So let's turn it into legislative text," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, to reporters on Thursday.
Here’s what’s in the framework:
Universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, with funding for six years
Child care: Limit child-care costs for families to no more than 7% of income, for families earning up to 250% of state median income
Investments in home care for older and disabled Americans
Extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit for one year
$320 billion for clean energy tax credits
$105 billion in investments and incentives to address extreme weather and pollution and create a Civilian Climate Corps
$110 billion in investments and incentives for clean energy technology, manufacturing and supply chains
$20 billion for Clean Energy procurement
Extension of the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits through 2025
Expansion of Medicare coverage to include hearing services
$150 billion for housing affordability and reducing price pressures
Increase in the maximum Pell grants
Investments in workforce development and skills training
Expansion of free meals at schools
$100 billion investment in immigration reform
Extension of the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers by one year.
To pay for his plan, Biden is proposing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
A 5% tax rate on income above $10 million and an extra 3% tax on income above $25 million
A 15% corporate minimum tax on large corporations
A global minimum tax of 15%
A 1% surcharge on corporate stock buybacks
Increased IRS enforcement
“This will mean the most transformative investment in children and caregiving in generations, the largest effort to combat climate change history, an historic tax cut for tens of millions of middle-class families and the biggest expansion of affordable health care in a decade," said a senior administration official. "It is entirely paid for by rewarding work, not wealth, and ensuring that the super-wealthy and corporations pay their fair share and can't cheat every on honest American on their tax bills."
President Biden is set to speak about the plan at 11:30 a.m. at the White House.
Jessica Smith is chief political correspondent for Yahoo Finance, based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter at @JessicaASmith8.
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