Future of Bill in US Senate Unclear
By Dan Murphy
On Nov. 19, the U.S House of Representatives passed the $2 Trillion, Build Back Better bill, otherwise known as the Human Infrastructure Bill, by a vote of 220-213. All three of Westchester County’s congressmembers, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, Rep. Mondaire Jones, and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, voted yes.
Parts of the spending bill include
- $109 billion to fund free, universal preschool for three- and four-year-olds. The money is projected to benefit as many as 6 million children through federal programs including Head Start.
- $276 billion over six years for child care for parents with kids up to five years old. The measure caps child care expenses at 7% of a families’ income for low- and moderate-income households.
- $35 billion to fund medicare payments for hearing aids. Dental and vision care benefits were not included in the final bill passed by the House. Millions of senior Americans will benefit.
- $555 Billion for Climate Change, including $320 Billion in tax credits for individuals and companies that use solar panels, or electic vehcicles or make their buildings energy efficient. The hope is that this investment will lower the cost of installing solar rooftop panels by 30% and electric vehicles by $12,500. The replacement of US Postal Service trucks with electric vehicles is also part of the bill. $30 billion is set aside for the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps to work at $15 per hour or more, in their local communities, to fight climate change or clean up the environment.
- Four weeks of paid parental, or sick leave. Current law allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.
- Child tax credits will continue at $300 per month for children up to age 5, and $250 per month for children ages 6-17.
- Increasing health care subsidies, which will include a new hearing aid benefit for seniors and a $35 per month cap on the cost of insulin for Medicare receipients, and an out of pocket cost maximum of $2,000 per year for prescription drug costs.
- An increase in the SALT deduction, for state and local income taxes, from $10,000 to $80,000. If passed by the senate, this portion of the bill will greatly affect Westchester homeowners.
- $150 billion to expand home caregiving services for low-income seniors and disabled Americans under medicare by paying home care workers more in the hopes that more Americans will work in the field and help the almost 1 million seniors who need a health care aide to stay in their homes.
- $150 Billion for affordable housing, including the rehab of existing units, the construction of new units, and subsidies to help pay for down payments for first home mortgages.
- $80 Billion for the IRS to hire thousands more employees to help capture some of the owed tax money of millions of Americans.
- $10 Billion for Historically Black Colleges & Universities, HBCU’s
- Expanding the free school meal program to include an additional 9 million families, and to provide aid to purchase meals during the summer.
- Would allow undocumented residents who have lived in the United States since 2011, the right to apply for work authorization.
Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who voted no on the first Infrastrucutre bill earlier this month in a protest over not voting both bills together, voted yes to the BBB. “I have remained steadfast in my commitment to the people and am proud to have the Build Back Better Act pass out of the House,” said Congressman Jamaal Bowman. “For months now, I’ve met with community members, organizers, and local leaders to hear about the changes they need the most in terms of housing, child care, healthcare, immigration, education and climate. In my twenty years as an educator working with families throughout New York, I’ve also seen firsthand the intersectionality of the crises people experience day in and day out. Today, Congress finally took the first step in implementing a plan to address the nation’s most pressing issues and improve life for the people.”
“Build Back Better is going to transform generations of lives in New York’s 16th Congressional District and communities throughout the nation. People have been unable to take time off of work to care for their family and are suffering with poor housing conditions, inadequate and expensive healthcare, lack of access to pre-K and child care programs, dealing with increased violence, and so much more. People living in America need tangible solutions to the obstacles they face on a daily basis. Those solutions and visions of hope can begin to be realized with the Build Back Better Act.”
“I am hopeful that the Senate will pass the bill without stripping critical investments before sending it to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Once law, billions of dollars will flow into our communities so that Democrats can deliver on the promises we ran on. This is a historic moment to effect real change in how we raise our youth, how we care for our neighbors, and how we heal the planet. I’m proud to have made the case to my colleagues that passage of the Build Back Better Act was critical, and I will ensure funds distributed in my district deliver the most change to transform our communities,” said Rep. Bowman.
Congressman Mondaire Jones said, “Today is an historic day for our nation, and for the great people of Westchester and Rockland Counties. Thanks to the leadership of progressives—who insisted on passing not just the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but also the larger Build Back Better Act—the House passed the most significant investment in our nation and our people in more than half a century.
“The bill will guarantee that high-quality child care is affordable for every family in America; save the planet from climate catastrophe while creating millions of good-paying, union jobs; expand Medicare to include hearing; continue to cut child poverty in half through an extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit; make an historic investment in housing affordability; lift the cap on the State and Local Tax deduction that has unjustly burdened working families in Westchester and Rockland; and so much more.
“I’m especially proud that this bill contains key provisions that I led the fight to secure: universal child care and an increase in the SALT deduction cap to $80,000. This victory is a testament to the strength and tenacity of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which I’m proud to be a Deputy Whip, and which held the line throughout this process to ensure we passed a bill that meets this unprecedented moment of overlapping crises.
“We in the House have done our job, and now our colleagues in the Senate must do theirs. I look forward to President Biden making good on his promise to secure 51 votes for the Build Back Better Act in the Senate expeditiously so we can get this bill onto his desk and begin delivering the change people in Westchester, Rockland, and across America need and deserve. The American people are counting on us to deliver, and we must do so without delay,” said Rep. Jones.
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney said, “It’s long past time that we invest in America’s families and future. The Build Back Better Act will do just that by delivering investments to lower health costs and the price of prescription drugs, combat the climate crisis, and improve the accessibility and affordability of child care,” said Rep. Maloney. “I’m proud that the Build Back Better Act includes several issues I’ve championed on behalf of New Yorkers, including an expansion of the Child Tax Credit which will help bring 7,800 children in NY-18 out of poverty, tax relief for Hudson Valley families, who will once again be able to deduct extensive portions of their state and local taxes on their federal tax returns, and debt relief for Hudson Valley farmers. Critically, all this investment occurs in a fiscally-responsible way that will help our economy continue to grow by reducing inflation and the deficit in the long-term.”
“The Build Back Better Act is a transformational investment that will lowers costs and improve life for the American people. From lowering the cost of healthcare and reducing prescription drug prices to ensuring affordable child care and universal pre-K, Build Back Better will put money back in the pockets of America’s working families. Build Back Better also contains the largest effort to combat climate change in American history and will cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 while creating good-paying, green jobs,” said Rep. Maloney.
The BBB now goes to the US Senate, where its passage is uncertain with a 50-50 split between democratic and republican senators, democrats need every vote from their caucus to have vice-president Kamala Harris break the tie.
