10/21/2021

President Biden Wants Reconciliation Deal by Next Week

The legislation would benefit the middle class, according to the administration

President Biden reiterated to House Democrats this week that he wants to secure a vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and have a “public agreement” on the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation package before he travels to Europe on Oct. 30.

Sources told Punchbowl News that Biden wants the topline for the reconciliation package to be between $1.9 trillion and $2.2 trillion. House and Senate Democratic leaders have been hashing out how to trim the original $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package to arrive at a plan in the $2 trillion range that can win unanimous Democratic support.

The original $3.5 trillion bill is expansive, but provisions generally fall into three buckets: climate, healthcare and family care. Reportedly, free community college is now out of the package, and Democrats are still working to lock down the climate and healthcare portions of the bill. Medicare expansion, paid family leave and the child tax credit are still in the package although negotiations remain fluid.

White House officials are also talking to Democratic lawmakers about options to pay for the package that don’t include raising the corporate tax rate. Biden initially proposed increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, but conservative Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) have raised concerns about tax hikes hurting the competitiveness of American businesses.

Deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates told The Washington Post there is an expansive menu of options to finance the package.

“The President is working to pass game-changing investments in economic growth that benefits the middle class, paid for by having the richest taxpayers and big corporations pay their fair share and without raising taxes on any American making less than $400,000,” Bates said in a statement. “The price tag for this legislation is zero.”

This article was provided to OSAP by ASAE's Power of A and Inroads.