Biden, Top Democrats Push For $3.5 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., have agreed on a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill that Democrats are expected to pass the Senate through reconciliation. President Joe Biden has also endorsed the infrastructure bill after the economy struggled during the height of the pandemic.
“The budget committee has reached an agreement. The budget resolution with instructions will be worth $3.5 trillion,” Schumer told reporters.
“Every major program that President Biden has asked us for will be funded in a robust way,” he added.
The bill is set to pay for many priorities Sanders and other top Democrats pushed for such as expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing, as well as childcare, healthcare, and combating climate change.
The bill is also expected to provide universal pre-K and college tuition. It will also prohibit taxes from being raised on those making less than $400,000 a year, as well as prohibiting raising taxes on small businesses.
The bill has been called the most expansive since the New Deal, which President Franklin Roosevelt pushed in the 1930s to help the U.S. get out of the Great Depression.
Should the bill pass it would be a big victory for Sanders, who has lobbied for such measures on the presidential campaign trail in both 2016 and 2020.
Democrats may face an uphill battle to get the ambitious package passed through the Senate with all 50 votes. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have both indicated they are open to passing a larger reconciliation package in addition to the agreed-upon bipartisan infrastructure deal.
However, the two senators have not voiced support for a specific price tag. The pair have previously been hesitant to pass a more expensive package because of their concerns that it may increase the deficit. The fate of the new bill will likely rest on their votes.
When combined with the bipartisan infrastructure deal the two plans will total over $4 trillion. The bipartisan plan is expected to be finalized and voted on next week.
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