A revised framework for the Build Back Better bill

Democrats in Congress continue their efforts to find sufficient support among their members to enact the Build Back Better legislation under budget reconciliation. With narrow majorities in both the House and Senate, passage requires the support of every Democratic member of the Senate and almost every Democratic member of the House.

The Build Back Better bill is being referred to as the human infrastructure bill, and the House has only just voted on the Senate-passed physical infrastructure bill (which does include some tax provisions). The negotiations that led to that had further trimmed the price tag of the Build Back Better bill from around $3.5 trillion in the Ways and Means version of the bill to around $1.75 trillion (with another possible $100 billion for immigration) in the most recent proposed framework for the bill. Even with this latest framework, changes continue to be proposed, and some Democrats in both the House and Senate continue to raise concerns about the framework until they can get more assurances about the fiscal effects of some of the provisions.

Obviously, in moving from a $3.5 trillion bill to a $1.75 trillion bill, a lot has now been dropped from the legislation. Although further changes are anticipated, it seems very likely that the legislation will continue to stay much closer to the $1.75 trillion figure. This column will highlight what’s currently still in, and what was taken out in the latest framework.