WASHINGTON (CN) — After months of political negotiations and a record-breaking speech by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that delayed the vote, the House on Friday morning narrowly passed a $1.85 trillion spending package that marks the most profound and sweeping attempt to expand the American social safety net in decades.
Only one Democrat dissented as House Democrats banded together to push the legislation on to the Senate, a day later than originally scheduled after McCarthy delayed proceedings with an 8 1/2-hour speech that went past midnight. The final vote tally Friday was 220-213.
Together with the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that was signed into law by President Joe Biden earlier this week, the Build Back Better Act represents a hallmark of President Joe Biden's campaign and first-term agenda. Biden had initially envisioned them as one, but political tensions divided what was a more than $3 trillion plan to overhaul American infrastructure.
“Under this dome for centuries, members of Congress have stood exactly where we stand to pass legislation of extraordinary consequence in our nation’s history and for our nation’s future," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Friday. “With the passage of the Build Back Better Act, we, this Democratic Congress, are taking our place in the long and honorable heritage of our democracy with legislation that will be the pillar of health and financial security in America."
The economic plan includes substantial investments in education, including free universal preschool and an increase in funding for Pell grants and historically Black colleges and universities.
Aiming to reduce the cost of child care, the package provides six years of funding for a federal program that lowers the cost of child care to 7% of a household's income.
The plan also offers a one-year extension on child tax credits, which became a lifeline for many families during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing $300 a month to families making up to $150,000 annually.
By way of $555 billion in tax breaks to expand the use of clean energy and electric vehicles, the historic package touts the largest financial commitment to fighting climate change in American history — a substantial accompaniment to the previously passed infrastructure bill's $500 billion investment in clean energy.
Health care is another major focus of the more-than-2,000-page legislation, which limits the price of insulin to $35 a month, expands Medicare coverage to include hearing benefits and allows Medicare to negotiate the price of drugs with pharmaceutical companies.
The package underwent near-constant revisions for months, with lawmakers delaying a vote multiple times and Democrats adding substantial new policies to the legislation just this month including paid family and medical leave as well as work permits for immigrants without legal documentation.
Drafts of the legislation raised concerns throughout the process from moderate Democrats and condemnation from Republicans worried about both the scope of the bill and its hefty price tag.
The majority of the legislation will be paid for through with higher taxes for people making more than $10 million a year, as well as a 15% minimum tax on large corporations and an increase in pressure by the IRS on people who have not paid taxes.
The House planned to vote on the Build Back Better Act earlier this month, but agreed to delay a vote until the final version of the bill had received a score from the Congressional Budget Office to determine the official revenue and cost of the bill.
The CBO released a final price estimate for the bill ahead of the vote Thursday, determining that it would increase the deficit by $160 billion over 10 years, a finding in slight conflict with the White House's assertion that the legislation paid for itself.