[ad_1]
President Biden will go to the Capitol on Thursday to announce progress on a social safety net and a “framework” deal for climate change legislation that will likely increase support for childcare and early childhood education and shift the economy away from fossil fuels.
Details on the exact shape of the package were still unclear, but people familiar with the president’s plan said he would use the 9 a.m. meeting of the Democratic House Group to try to convince liberal members that a final deal is close enough to allow them to back them. A separate $1 trillion infrastructure bill that has passed the Senate.
The resulting deal, which he and senior Democrats are expected to outline, is likely to leave some critical issues unresolved, including how to get paid for it. And the agreed-upon components were much more modest than the cradle-to-grave expansion of the safety net originally envisioned for a bill that would be at least twice as large.
But the expected provisions for young children will provide a significant boost to middle-class families who have struggled with economic uncertainty for decades. And the nearly $500 billion expected to go into programs to move Americans into electric vehicles and shift utilities away from natural gas and coal will represent by far the largest federal investment in tackling climate change.
Democratic leaders were keen to give the president a victory before he travels to Europe this week. The president planned to attend a climate summit in Scotland on Sunday, where he hoped to cite the agreement as proof of US commitment to tackling climate change.
They also hoped the deal would be enough to convince the most liberal members of the House that Congress was on the verge of passing a truly progressive package, and that those liberals would join the more moderate and conservative Democrats to send the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure. bill to Mr Biden for his signature and much needed support for his party.
The extremely close governor’s race in Virginia was another motivating factor, according to the two House members. The Democratic candidate, former Governor Terry McAuliffe, wants to spend the final days of the campaign barbaric in the state to show where new projects should be built.
Liberal members of the House of Representatives and Senate will likely find much to lament about. The crux of Mr. Biden’s climate change policy—a measure to reward companies that make the transition to renewable energy and punish those that don’t—was scrapped at the insistence of Democratic centrist Senator Joe Manchin III from West Virginia. One of the biggest social policies in the original package, $500 billion in federal paid family and medical leave benefits, will likely also go.
The promise of two years of free community college will not be fulfilled, and the extended child tax credit passed in March to give most families $300 per child income support is only expected to be extended until 2023 before it becomes permanent.
Other measures are yet to be resolved, including expanding Medicare benefits to cover hearing, vision, and dental care, and expanding health insurance to 12 states that refuse to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
But California Spokesperson Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said the final social policy measure will be “for the kids,” and she’ll likely be able to claim that she’s fulfilling that commitment. Under the anticipated agreement, most families would receive six years of subsidy for childcare expenses, ensuring only a small percentage of their total income is devoted to daycare.
Universal kindergarten grants will last even longer, effectively extending public schools to age 3. The framework for older Americans is expected to include several years of community and home health care.
It also includes substantial sums for rental assistance, home purchase assistance, housing repairs, and other affordable housing programs.
“We have the largest investment in housing since the New Deal,” said Pramila Jayapal, Washington Representative, who chairs the House Progressive Caucus. “There’s a lot of really good stuff on this bill, but we need to finish it and vote at the same time.”
[ad_2]
Source link