Kildee Advances Build Back Better Budget Through Ways and Means Committee

Press Release

WASHINGTON--Congressman Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, has voted to advance a national budget that helps level the playing field for Michigan's working families after a four-day legislative mark-up of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better budget in the Ways and Means Committee.

The budget bill now moves to the Budget Committee, of which Kildee is also a member, before moving to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for a full vote.

"This bill presents a historic opportunity to cut taxes for Michigan's working families," Congressman Kildee said. "I am proud of the work we have done in the Ways and Means Committee to cut taxes for working families and lower the costs of prescription drugs and child care. This historic bill includes several priorities I have been advocating for, including the expansion of the electric vehicle tax credit and supporting older, industrial communities impacted by trade. Our budget is fully paid for by ensuring that big corporations and the wealthiest Americans making over $400,000 a year pay their fair share in taxes."

Key measures passed by the Ways and Means Committee include:

Supporting working families by:

Extending American Rescue Plan expansion of the Child Tax Credit, making permanent the American Rescue Plan expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit;
Providing up to 12 weeks of universal paid family and medical leave for all U.S. workers;
Investing and improving child care access and equity by funding the construction and remodeling of child care facilities to make them even safer and more aligned with public health guidelines and raising the wages of child care workers.
Improving senior health and health care affordability by:

Expanding Medicare coverage to include dental, vision and hearing benefits;
Lowering prescription costs for Americans by allowing the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower drug prices;
Extending the American Rescue Plan's expanded premium tax credits to help lower health insurance costs;
Addressing the staffing shortages in long-term care facilities by providing funds for recruitment and retention.
Supporting clean energy investment by:

Expanding the EV tax credit to creating good-paying manufacturing and union jobs, and reduce carbon pollution;
Creating an advanced energy property credit, with a designated set aside for automotive communities, to encourage the transition to clean manufacturing;
Expanding infrastructure for charging electric vehicles to continue to broaden the access to this important clean technology.
Modernizing and reforming the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs by:

Increasing benefits and expanding eligibility to meet the needs of today's workers under TAA for Workers program;
Establishes a completely revamped TAA for Communities program to assist struggling communities that have suffered trade-impacted job losses with creating and implementing a locally-developed plan for economic revitalization.
Supporting local communities by:

Creating new qualified infrastructure bonds to spur new investment in modernizing and upgrading public infrastructure;
Restoring advanced refunding for bonds, which will help reduce debt costs for state and local governments;
Expanding proven tax credit programs, like the New Markets Tax Credit, that encourage economic development and affordable housing investments in our communities that are most in need.
Strengthening retirement security by:

Helping build up retirement support for employees by requiring employers without employer-sponsored retirement plans to automatically enroll their employees in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) or 401(k)-type plans;
Expands the Saver's Credit to encourage contributions to retirement plans, including for very low-income individuals.

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