U.S. House adoption of $3.5 trillion budget resolution advances the Build Back Better agenda toward enactment of transformational investments in American jobs, families
Senate and House committees must protect and deliver on a once-in-a-generation investment in good-paying jobs, affordable housing and childcare, and bold investments in education and health care
HARRISBURG, PA – Jeff Garis, coordinator of Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center’s federal advocacy campaign, The 99% Pennsylvania, released this statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives’ adoption of the $3.5 trillion budget resolution:
This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted the $3.5 trillion budget resolution was advanced in the U.S. Senate earlier this month. All Democratic representatives voted in favor of the resolution, while all Republican members opposed it. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (PBPC) commends Representatives Brendan Boyle (PA-2), Dwight Evans (PA-3), Madeleine Dean (PA-4), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-6), Susan Wild (PA-7), Matt Cartwright (PA-8), Conor Lamb (PA-17), and Mike Doyle (PA-18) for advancing President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) agenda.
Today’s action confirms the framework that will allow for once-in-a-generation investments in universal pre-K, tuition-free community college, paid family and medical leave for all workers, affordable housing, reductions in health care costs, and a sustainable and clean energy economy. The resolution also calls for funding these investments by raising taxes on the richest Americans—those earning more than $400,000 per year—and the wealthiest corporations, providing tax relief for middle-class families.
With the budget resolution adopted by both chambers, designated Senate and House committees are authorized to draft specific sections of the legislative package, which can be passed by a simple majority vote in the Senate via budget reconciliation later this year. PBPC encourages Congressmen Boyle and Evans, both of whom are members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, to vigorously advocate for raising the revenue needed to fund the transformational investments in American jobs and families, in particular, raising revenue by making the wealthiest people and corporations begin to pay their fair share.
PBPC strongly urges every member of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to advocate for fully funding the priorities outlined in the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan and to support the BBB plan when it receives a vote this fall.