House votes, finally, to pass Build Back Better Act: Bill heads to Senate

The House voted, of course along party lines, to pass the cornerstone item in President Biden’s first-year agenda, the Build Back Better Act.

This after the theatrical eight-plus-hour delay for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s public temper tantrum, which accomplished oh so much.

The legislation, which heads to the Senate, and will no doubt look different before it gets to the floor there, includes provisions combatting climate change, expanding preschool access and lowering prescription drug prices, among many other things.

One of those many other things: tax increases for those who make more than $400,000 a year. Read the following comment from Ninth District Republican Morgan Griffith in the context of that bit of knowledge.

“The Democrat reconciliation bill is a mess. It promises to ‘Build Back Better,’ but is littered with policies that will make life more expensive and less free for the average American. That such a reckless bill is the treasured priority of Washington’s current one-party rulers says all we need to know about their unfitness to govern,” Griffith said.

The cost of doing nothing on climate change, education, healthcare, is harder to quantify, but is surely worth soaking those who benefit from the decades-long effort of Republicans to spread those costs out to the rest of us.

“I’m thrilled the House has passed the Build Back Better bill, getting this historic legislation one step closer to becoming law,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, who with the rest of the Senate will get his hooks into the legislation next. “This legislation will make pre-K universal, expand affordable child care, and boost job training programs to help workers get the jobs that will be created by the bipartisan infrastructure bill. This legislation will position working families and children for success for years to come.”

“To truly rebuild from nearly two years of widespread uncertainty and hardship, we need to redouble our efforts to listen and respond to the concerns of our fellow Virginians,” Seventh District Democrat  Abigail Spanberger said. “Throughout our district, I hear from seniors and diabetics about skyrocketing prescription drug costs — and this legislation would finally combat these spikes. I hear from many families, particularly those struggling with rising childcare costs, about how the expanded Child Tax Credit has helped them. This legislation would extend this much-needed relief. And I hear from so many Virginians who are concerned about the state of our planet — and this legislation would make transformational investments in fighting the climate crisis and protecting the next generation.”

Spanberger and Second District Democrat Elaine Luria both voted for the bill. You can bet that whoever emerges as their Republican challengers in the swing districts that they represent will play the heck out of those votes in their campaigns.

“I am proud to support the Build Back Better Act because it will improve the quality of life for working families in Coastal Virginia, strengthen our clean energy economy, and help make the planet more livable for our children,”  Luria said. “After weeks of negotiations to lower the overall cost of the legislation, I firmly believe these investments are exactly what the American economy needs to reduce prices, make health and childcare more affordable, and create good-paying jobs in the industries of the future.”

Story by Chris Graham