The Build Back Better Framework

By Ayla Kanber, Earth Forward Group

House Democrats passed the Build Back Better Plan on November 19, 2021. The $2.2 trillion spending plan will invest in reducing health care, combatting climate change, increasing affordable housing, and more.

House passes Biden's social spending bill, now it heads to the Senate

The climate change agenda in the plan represents one of the largest investments in clean energy to date, and is one of the key parts of the Build Back Better Plan. The climate agenda can be read about in depth here.

Build Back Better Plan Details

Aside from the climate agenda, here are more details about the plan:

Investment in children and caregiving

• The plan will offer universal and free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.
• The plan includes the largest investment in child care in American history. It will save most families more than half of their child care spending.
• The plan delivers affordable, high-quality home care for older and disabled Americans.
• The plan will extend the American Rescue Plan’s Child Tax Credit, which will provide 39 million households up to $300/month in tax cuts per child.

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Affordable Health Care Expansion

• The plan will reduce prescription drug costs.

Americans spend more on prescription drug costs than any other country in the world. Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• The plan will reduce premiums for 9 million Americans and strengthen the Affordable Care Act.
• The plan will allow 4 million uninsured people to gain covered by closing the Medicaid Coverage Gap.
• The plan will expand Medicare to cover hearing benefits.

Strengthen the Middle Class

• The plan will make the largest investment in affordable housing in American history.
• The plan will extend the Earned Income Tax Credit for nearly 17 million low-wage workers.
• The plan will expand access to affordable, high-quality education beyond high school.
• The plan will support children’s health by promoting nutrition security.

Bertha Etsitty helps 4-H members make traditional blue corn mush during a club activity, to increase education about nutritional security. Photo by Leah Platero.

• The plan will strengthen the middle class by investing in equity, safety, and fairness.
• The plan will invest in immigration reform.

How will the Build Back Better Plan be paid for?

The Build Back Better Plan will be paid in full. Part of the plan will be paid for with savings from repealing the Trump Administration’s rebate rule. The rest of the plan will be paid for by corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and Americans making less than $400,000 will not be paying more in taxes.

Additionally, the Build Back Better Plan addresses other financial issues.

• The plan will stop large corporations from evading taxes and stop tax corporations that buyback stock rather than investing in the company.
• The plan will stop rewarding corporations for shipping jobs and profit overseas.
• The plan will request a new surtax from the highest income Americans.
• The plan will invest in current tax laws so that wealthy Americans do not evade paying taxes.

Democrats and others argue that the bill will uplift the American economy and improve lives by offering universal prekindergarten, offering generous subsidies for child care that extend into the middle class, expand financial aid for university students, add billions of dollars into housing support, improve Medicare, and make the largest investment in renewable energy to combat climate change.

The Senate aims to approve the bill before Christmas this year.

To read more about the House of Representatives passing the Build Back Better Plan, click here.

To read more about the climate agenda in the Build Back Better Plan, click here.

To read more about the Build Back Better framework, click here.