Biden preparing to unveil $1T 'families plan' spending proposal this month
Biden plans to release the measure ahead of his address to a joint session of Congress
Biden's 'high individual tax hikes are going to affect everyday people': Westwood
Sarah Westwood of the Washington Examiner discusses Biden's proposed tax hikes, comparing the president's proposals to those of the late Walter Mondale.
The Biden administration is reportedly teeing up another massive economic spending package that's focused on child care, paid family leave and other domestic priorities.
The Washington Post reported late Monday that President Biden plans to unveil the American Families Plan, the second part of his multitrillion-dollar Build Back Better agenda, ahead of his address to a joint session of Congress on April 28. It comes just a few weeks after Biden released the American Jobs Plan, a $2.25 trillion tax and spending initiative that would make massive investments in the nation's roads and bridges, as well as water systems, green energy, hospitals and elder care.
REPUBLICANS PREPPING $650B COUNTEROFFER TO BIDEN'S SPENDING PROPOSAL
The newest measure is expected to call for roughly $1 trillion in new spending and about $500 billion in tax credits, the Post reported, citing people familiar with the internal discussions.
Although details remain in flux, the proposal will likely be fully paid for with new tax increases aimed at wealthy Americans and and investors. Some tax increases currently under consideration include restoring the top marginal tax rate to 39.6%, where it sat before Republicans' 2017 tax overhaul, taxing capital gains as ordinary income above a certain threshold and eliminating the stepped-up basis at death, Politico reported earlier this week.
Final numbers are fluid, but spending in the American Families Plan may break down along these lines:
- $225 billion for paid family and medical leave
- About $225 billion for child-care support
- $200 billion for universal pre-K schooling
- "Hundreds of billions" in education funding
- "Other sums" for nutritional assistance
PELOSI OPENS DOOR TO LIFTING SALT TAX CAP IN BIDEN'S $2.25T SPENDING BILL
It would also include an extension of the expanded child tax credit through 2025, rejecting a measure from some Democratic lawmakers to make the expansion permanent. The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package passed in March authorized $3,000 for every child ages 6 to 17 and $3,600 for every child under age 6. The amounts are tapered off once income hits $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married couples, and the expansion is poised to sunset this year.
The measure faces a steep hill to passage: Republicans have already criticized the size and scope of Biden's $2.25 trillion proposal. GOP senators also slammed Biden's push to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, calling it a "non-negotiable red line."
Biden said Monday that he is "prepared to compromise" ahead of a White House meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
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"As I indicated earlier, I am prepared to compromise, prepared to see what we can do and what we can get together on," Biden said in the Oval Office at the meeting's onset. "It's a big package, but there are a lot of needs."
With narrow majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats have the option to circumvent Republicans and pass the measure on a party-line vote using a procedural tool known as budget reconciliation. But some moderate members, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have indicated they want to pursue a bipartisan deal first.