House Democrats are urging President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats to strike a deal quickly on a new version of the stalled Build Back Better spending bill, but the measure may face the same obstacles that hobbled the bill last year.
The House Progressive Caucus this week called on party lawmakers to pass the Build Back Better act by March 1 “so the president can use the power of the State of the Union platform to share with the nation the relief that people will soon receive,” said Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, in a statement.
Biden is set to deliver his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on March 1. The timeline liberal Democrats call for would require lawmakers to strike a deal and pass the legislation through both chambers in a matter of weeks.
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The effort could take much longer and may not succeed, thanks to the same obstacles plaguing the passage of the measure for months.
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, remains the main obstacle to passing the social welfare and green energy spending legislation. Manchin announced in December he would not vote for the $1.75 trillion bill Democrats had been negotiating for months, citing the high cost, inflation concerns, and opposition to some of the provisions in the bill.
Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, is now leading the effort to rewrite the bill. Wyden and other Democrats are still pushing for the legislation to include liberal priorities such as lowering carbon emissions, extending the child tax credit, and free community college.
Wyden acknowledged in an interview that many of the provisions would have to be scrapped to win over all 50 Democrats, who plan to pass the bill using a special budget procedure that will circumvent a GOP filibuster.
Manchin may not accept a child tax credit and is wary of green energy provisions meant to end the use of fossil fuels.
Manchin isn’t a fan of free community college, either, which would inflate the cost of the bill. And he wants clean energy tax benefits to include fossil fuels, fund carbon capture, and provide tax credits for hydrogen-powered vehicles, not just electric vehicles.
Manchin’s standards may make it difficult to win over liberal Democrats.
Wyden and other Democrats are seeking an extension of the child tax credit, which expired in December. The benefit had provided families with up to $300 per child. House and Senate Democrats approved the benefit as part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid legislation passed in March.
The original Build Back Better legislation would have extended the payments for another year.
Manchin has signaled the child tax credit should be directed only toward the neediest families and include a work requirement.
On Wednesday, Wyden was among five Democrats who wrote to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, urging them to “secure an extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit as a centerpiece of the Build Back Better package.”
The letter made no mention of means testing or a work requirement.
On Thursday, top Democrat Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip, told the Washington Post in an online interview he wants to see Manchin propose a child tax credit that is means-tested.
“I think you could get it through the House,” Clyburn said, excluding Manchin’s desire for the benefit to include a work requirement. “There is a lot in Build Back Better that he says he’s for, so let’s do that.”
Manchin is also demanding the legislation be entirely offset so it does not add to the deficit. He’s eager to reform the 2017 tax cuts but isn’t willing to raise rates on corporations and the wealthy as high as other Democrats want because he fears it will hurt local economies.
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Like the first version of Build Back Better, a rewrite will also run into obstacles from centrist Democrats.
A group of Democrats from high-tax states is warning they won’t support the legislation if it modifies the tax code but leaves out a provision ending the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, or SALT.
“SALT remains a top priority,” said Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Tom Suozzi of New York in a statement. “We support the President’s agenda, and if there are any efforts that include a change in the tax code, then a SALT fix must be a part of it. No SALT, no deal.”
Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, also wants a SALT modification, and like Manchin, his vote is essential if Democrats hope to pass a new version of Build Back Better in the evenly divided Senate.
Menendez took aim at fellow caucus member Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and socialist, after the latter tweeted he was “glad to hear” the SALT cap provision is “no longer in play” in the revised version of Build Back Better.
“Less than three months ago, Sen. Sanders stood next to me and said Trump’s $10,000 SALT cap was a regressive and unfair proposal,” Menendez tweeted. “Fast forward to January 2022.”
Sanders initially backed a modification of the cap. The now-scrapped Build Back Better plan passed by House Democrats raised the limit to $80,000.
But liberal Democrats became increasingly critical of the effort to raise it, arguing it would mostly benefit well-off homeowners.
It’s now another obstacle in the way of passing a revised bill.
“Democrats need to focus on the struggling working class, not giving tax breaks to the wealthy,” Sanders tweeted.
