Here's What's In The Build Back Better Act

     The Build Back Better Act contains a huge portion of President Biden's agenda and provides a launchpad upon which to base all of his future initiatives as president. To clarify some of the confusion and misunderstanding around the bill, I have included a partial list of its historic provisions below. We need to pass this bill (like we did the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) by Thanksgiving so that we can build back better from this pandemic and continue pushing on to issues like police reform, voting rights, etc. The bill will:

1. Implement fines of $100,000 for illegal union busting, the first penalties for employers in history.

2. Allow up to four weeks of paid and medical leave.

3. Allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.

4. Cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month.

5. Impose a tax penalty if drug companies increase their prices faster than inflation.

6. Place a cap of $2,000 per year for drug costs for seniors under Medicare Part D.

7. Reduce premiums for the Affordable Care Act, allowing 3 million uninsured people access to insurance.

8. Close the Medicaid coverage gap for states that have not expanded it, providing healthcare to 4 million Americans.

9. Expand Medicare to cover hearing benefits.

10. Make the single largest and most comprehensive investment in affordable housing in American history.

11. Provide universal Pre-K for three- and four-year-olds.

12. Cap the cost of child care at seven percent of a household's income.

13. Expand home care services under Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries for the first time in 40 years.

14. Extend the expanded Child Tax Credit and make refundability permanent.

15. Triple the EITC for childless workers permanently.

16. Increase the Pell Grant by $550 and expand access to DREAMers.

17. Make the largest investment in HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, and MSIs in U.S. history.

18. Expand the Labor Department’s workforce development funding by the largest amount in history to help millions of Americans receive sector-focused training and apprenticeships, especially in education.

19. Permanently fund the expansion of free school meals for millions of children that was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the summer.

20. Invest billions of dollars in an innovative new community violence initiative focused on preventing gun violence.

21. Provide billions of dollars to prepare America for future pandemics and bolster the nation’s supply chain. 

22. Include the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act to close the maternal health gap between black and white moms.

23. Launch a massive Rural Partnership Program to provide community development grants to rural communities, including tribal communities.

24. Create a fairer tax code for small businesses and manufacturers and prioritize government purchase of goods and services from minority-owned small businesses.

25. Invest more than $100 billion in immigration to end the backlog at the border, expand legal representation, and offer amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. 

26. Provide tax rebates that will cut the cost of solar panel installation and EV purchasing by nearly ⅓. 

27. Offer grants, loans, tax credits, and procurements to increase demand and competitiveness in the decarbonization process of new and existing industries.

28. Allow hundreds of thousands of farms to implement better soil conservation while investing in forest management and coastal restoration.

29. Create a 300,000-person Civilian Climate Corps to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

30. Give 40 percent of clean energy benefits to disadvantaged communities through environmental justice grants.

31. Establish a 15 percent minimum corporate tax to ensure corporations making over $1 billion stop getting away with paying almost nothing and impose a 1 percent surcharge on stock buybacks.

32. Establish a 15 percent minimum tax on foreign profits to stop companies from shipping jobs overseas.

33. Establish new taxes on the top 0.02 percent of American taxpayers.

34. Close loopholes allowing wealthy earners to avoid paying the 3.8 percent tax on Medicare.

35. Revamp the IRS’ enforcement capabilities to go after people making over $1 million who evade taxes. 

36. Accomplish it without increasing taxes on anyone making under $400,000 a year.