Today, the United States House of Representatives passed President Biden’s Build Back Better Act, a bill that will cut costs for families, create jobs, and keep the economic recovery going. In response, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes released the following statement:
“President Biden and Democrats have once again delivered for the middle class. No thanks to a single Michigan Republican, the Build Back Better Act will lower costs for working families, create good paying jobs, and grow the economy — all without taking a single penny from anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year.
“This investment in our climate, care, and kids will do so much to improve the lives of folks in our state, and it’s exactly the type of legislation that 2.8 million Michiganders voted for when they took to the polls to elect President Biden. The United States Senate should move quickly to get this transformative legislation across the finish line so we can continue building back better.”
The Build Back Better Act will deliver for Michigan by:
- Providing access to child care for 602,388 young children (ages 0-5) per year from families earning under 2.5 times the Michigan median income, and ensuring these families pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care.
- Expanding access to free, high-quality preschool to more than 222,398 additional 3- and 4-year-olds per year and increasing the quality of preschool for children who are already enrolled.
- Setting the United States on course to meet its climate targets—a 50-52% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030—in a way that creates good-paying union jobs, grows domestic industries, and advances environmental justice.
- Closing the Medicaid coverage gap to help millions of Americans gain health insurance, extend through 2025 the American Rescue Plan’s health insurance premium reductions for those who buy coverage on their own, and help older Americans access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare.
- Extending Child Tax Credit (CTC) increases $300/month per child under 6 or $250/month per child ages 6 to 17. This will continue the largest one-year reduction in child poverty in history.
- Providing a tax cut of up to $1,500 in tax cuts for 571,000 low-wage workers in Michigan by extending the American Rescue Plan’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansion.
