Democrats Release Text for Budget Resolution

Monday Senate Democrats released text of a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, setting the stage for a bill that will encompass much of President Biden’s economic and social agenda to address climate change and expand child care, health coverage, and education benefits. The resolution provides a blueprint for the creation of a budget reconciliation bill. It sets out spending levels for fiscal years 2022 through 2031 and gives committees the greenlight to begin crafting legislative text.

The resolution calls for making community college tuition free for two years, creating a federal paid family and medical leave benefit, extending tax cuts for families with children, and prohibiting new taxes on small businesses and family farms and families making less than $400,000 per year. It also calls for investing in public housing and job training programs and adding new dental, vision, and hearing benefits to Medicare programs, among other Democratic priorities.

Democrats plan to pay for the bill by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. The resolution gives the Senate Finance Committee wide latitude to draft policies that raise taxes and asks the committee to find additional revenue to fund the $3.5 trillion in spending from health care savings and a new fee on carbon polluters.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer instructed committees to prioritize certain initiatives in a future budget reconciliation bill, including funding pro-worker incentives and labor enforcement. His instructions did not include much detail on this front, but it is likely Democrats will try to include the penalty structure outlined in the PRO Act.

A vote on the budget resolution is expected later this week.

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