What does each side want in budget talks between Biden, Congress? How would it affect you?
WASHINGTON – The White House and congressional Democrats resumed negotiations Friday to try to forge a compromise that could pave the way for passage of President Joe Biden’s proposals to rebuild roads and bridges and boost the nation’s social welfare programs.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had committed to a vote Thursday on a $1 trillion package of spending on highways, bridges, railways, transit and broadband. But the vote was delayed amid disagreements over the size of a separate $3.5 trillion package of social safety net and climate change proposals.
Progressive House Democrats were refusing to back the roads-and-bridges bill they view as insufficient unless there's progress on Biden's larger plan. Some have vowed to vote against the infrastructure package because Democrats haven't yet reached an agreement on the companion legislation to fund social services and address climate change.
Here’s a closer look at what each side wants:
President Biden
Biden promised during last year’s presidential campaign that rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure system and overhauling the nation’s social safety net would be among his topic domestic priorities.
After taking office, he proposed two separate packages that make up the heart of the Democrats’ domestic agenda.
His public works bill would invest $1 trillion in routine transportation, broadband, water systems and other projects bolstered with extra funding. The bill won bipartisan support in the Senate.
A broader $3.5 trillion bill aims to strengthen social safety net and climate change programs. It calls for creating free pre-kindergarten for three and four-year-olds, two years of free community college, and establishing paid family and sick leave. It also would expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision benefits.
Biden insists the price tag actually will be zero because the expansion of government programs would be largely paid for with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy — businesses earning more than $5 million a year, and individuals earning more than $400,000 a year, or $450,000 for couples.
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Joe Manchin
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has been saying for months that the $3.5 trillion budget bill is too large to win his support. But on Thursday, he finally said publicly what he considered the maximum size of a bill that would win his vote: $1.5 trillion.
That represents a wide gulf between what he is willing to support and what Biden and progressive Democrats in the House are pushing for, but the details about the specific policy differences are fuzzier.
Manchin has said expansion of social programs should be “targeted to those in need” and pushed for tax reforms “to fix the flaws of the 2017 tax bill.” A means test for social programs would mean fewer people benefit but the costs would be lower.
He also has expressed skepticism about climate policy proposals in the budget. Manchin’s home state of West Virginia is the second-largest coal producer in the country, and he is pushing to preserve benefits for fossil fuels.
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Kyrsten Sinema
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a centrist Democrat from Arizona, is a crucial player in the White House’s efforts to pass both bills.
Sinema said months ago she opposes the Senate Democrats’ $3.5 trillion package of social welfare and climate change proposals. But she has declined to provide a top-line dollar figure, saying she was more focused on proposed spending for individual buckets of funding than an overall figure.
Her objections to the price tag and other provisions have amped up pressure for her to articulate publicly exactly what she wants to see in the budget reconciliation proposal.
Sinema told The Arizona Republic that she supports many goals in Democrats’ initial proposal that could create jobs, grow American competitiveness and expand economic opportunities. But she declined to say what areas she supports and which she does not.
Sinema has expressed an interest in policies addressing climate change. Those proposals could have outsized significance in her home state and could carry tangible efforts similar to those expected in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats are looking for approval of a budget bill packed with policy positions they have staked out before they take a vote on a separate infrastructure bill the Senate already has approved.
Their votes on the bipartisan infrastructure bill supported by moderate Democrats and some Republicans is the biggest piece of leverage progressives have to push through their package of social welfare programs.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus includes 95 House members and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. With slim margins in both chambers, their votes could make or break a deal.
The $3.5 trillion plan Senate Democrats announced in July was significantly smaller than the $6 trillion package Sanders wanted. But it includes a large expansion of social welfare programs, including universal prekindergarten, subsidized child care, free community college, national paid family leave and extended child tax benefits. Medicare also was expanded in the plan.
Environmental initiatives also are part of the plan. For example, it would incentivize clean energy generation such as wind and power, and new standards would force power companies to shift away from carbon monoxide emissions.
The House framework approved in August includes many of the same policies. It seeks to generate electricity without an increase in carbon emissions by 2035 and calls for higher taxes on corporations and people with incomes higher than $400,000.
Contributing: Bart Jansen, Savannah Behrmann, Joey Garrison, The Associated Press and The Arizona Republic