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Five House committees began on Thursday formally drafting parts of a sweeping social policy and climate change bill that Democrats will spend $3.5 trillion over the next decade and raise taxes and other revenue boosters to rewire the social environment. safety net and get the country off fossil fuels.
The products of the draft sessions, which may take several tough days, will be turned into a final bill this fall, which could be one of the most important measures to reach the House floor in decades.
“What I want people to know is that this bill is for you,” California Democratic spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday. “If you are a woman with children at home and want to return to the workforce; if you have disabilities who provide home and home health services; if your children are small and you want universal pre-K; children learn, parents win; paid if a family member is sick and you need family and medical leave; The list goes on.”
Democrats plan to pass the law using a process known as conciliation, which protects financial measures from fraudsters and allows them to pass by simple majority if they follow strict rules. The maneuver leaves little room for party splits, given the thin margins of control in Congress.
Republicans united against the emerging bill, and business and wealthy lobbyists sided with it. They only need to rob three or four House Democrats — or a single Senate Democrat — to dampen the effort.
“Let’s not forget that this week, American families and Main Street businesses will have to shoulder the brunt of these devastating tax increases as Democrats try to get over their reckless $3.5 trillion tax and spending agendas,” Republicans said in House Ways. and the Instruments Committee, which will begin preparing the bulk of the Bill on Thursday, Friday and next week.
The panel will start with the spending side this week and move on to the more difficult task next week, such as the tax increases that must be paid for it. Bulky agenda items include up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave; expanding tax credits to pay for child care and aged care; raising the wages of childcare workers; require employers to automatically enroll employees in individual retirement accounts or 401(k) plans; and expanding Medicare coverage to include dental, vision and hearing benefits.
The part of the bill, which is also being discussed by the Education and Work Committee on Thursday, will make pre-primary education universal for 3 and 4-year-olds; fund two years of tuition-free community college and increase the value of Pell Grants; provide money to rebuild and modernize school buildings; expanding job training programs; and expand child nutrition programs supported in emergencies during the pandemic.
The Natural Resources Committee, which has partial authority over climate change programs, will seek to increase the wages of fossil fuel companies that explore and drill in public lands and waters; expand the leasing of offshore sites for wind power; spending up to $3.5 billion on a new civic and tribal climate association; and increasing funding for wildfire control, climate resilience and adaptation to a warmer planet.
Smaller parts of the bill will be drafted by science and small business committees.
Senate Democrats, who are expected to skip the public drafting phase, are meeting behind closed doors to work on their own version of the bill and bring it straight to the ground.
They plan to present a proposal to the Senate’s top rule enforcer early Friday that would legalize several groups of undocumented immigrants, including those brought into the country without permission as children. It is for parliamentarians to determine whether certain measures that must be limited to policies that directly affect government revenues comply with Senate rules for inclusion in the final bill.
Emily Cochrane contributing reporting.
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