[House Report 117-130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress   }                                      {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                      {      117-130
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


                         BUILD BACK BETTER ACT

                               ----------                              

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                        COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              to accompany

                               H.R. 5376

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                              BOOK 1 OF 3





[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]






 September 27, 2021.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
            
            
            
            








117th Congress   }                                      {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                      {      117-130
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


                         BUILD BACK BETTER ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                        COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET

                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              to accompany

                               H.R. 5376

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                              BOOK 1 OF 3






[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]






 September 27, 2021.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
                             _________
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
45-622                   WASHINGTON : 2021
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
                        COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET

                  JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky, Chairman
HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York         JASON SMITH, Missouri,
BRIAN HIGGINS, New York                Ranking Member
BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania,      TRENT KELLY, Mississippi
  Vice Chairman                      TOM McCLINTOCK, California
LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas                 GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina       LLOYD SMUCKER, Pennsylvania
JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois       CHRIS JACOBS, New York
DANIEL T. KILDEE, Michigan           MICHAEL BURGESS, Texas
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York          BUDDY CARTER, Georgia
STEVEN HORSFORD, Nevada              BEN CLINE, Virginia
BARBARA LEE, California              LAUREN BOEBERT, Colorado
JUDY CHU, California                 BYRON DONALDS, Florida
STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands   RANDY FEENSTRA, Iowa
JENNIFER WEXTON, Virginia            BOB GOOD, Virginia
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia  ASHLEY HINSON, Iowa
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas            JAY OBERNOLTE, California
JIM COOPER, Tennessee                CAROL MILLER, West Virginia
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
SCOTT H. PETERS, California
SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington

                           Professional Staff

                     DIANA MEREDITH, Staff Director
                  MARK ROMAN, Minority Staff Director 
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Introduction by the Committee on the Budget......................     3
Title I--Committee on Agriculture................................  1515
Title II--Committee on Education and Labor.......................  1535
Title III--Committee on Energy and Commerce......................  1644
Title IV--Committee on Financial Services........................  1801
Title V--Committee on Homeland Security..........................  1857
Title VI--Committee on the Judiciary.............................  1858
Title VII--Committee on Natural Resources........................  1864
Title VIII--Committee on Oversight and Reform....................  1915
Title IX--Committee on Science, Space, and Technology............  1917
Title X--Committee on Small Business.............................  1930
Title XI--Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.........  1964
Title XII--Committee on Veterans' Affairs........................  1991
Title XIII--Committee on Ways and Means..........................  1994
Committee on the Budget:
    Votes of the Committee on the Budget.........................  1493
    Other House Report Requirements..............................  1507
    Views of Committee Members...................................  1509
Build Back Better Act (legislative text).........................  1515










117th Congress   }                                      {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                      {      117-130

======================================================================



 
                         BUILD BACK BETTER ACT

                                _______
                                

 September 27, 2021.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

            Mr. Yarmuth, from the Committee on the Budget, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 5376]

    The Committee on the Budget, to whom reconciliation 
recommendations were submitted pursuant to title II of S. Con. 
Res. 14, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 
year 2022, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

              INTRODUCTION BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET

                              ----------                              

    Since the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed in the United 
States nearly two years ago, the pandemic and resulting 
economic fallout have exposed and exacerbated underlying and 
systemic inequities and deficiencies in our society, 
highlighting the interconnected nature of these pressing 
challenges. The need for bold, transformative, and visionary 
investments in our nation and communities is long overdue.

The Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2022 Paved the 
                   way for the Build Back Better Act

    The 2022 budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 14) laid the 
groundwork for the Build Back Better Act by providing the 
option of using the budget reconciliation process to make 
historic investments in our communities and country. This 
reconciliation bill is the next step toward implementing the 
plan.
    Budget reconciliation has been used by Democrats and 
Republicans over the past four decades for a variety of 
purposes, including reducing the deficit, expanding access to 
health coverage, restricting eligibility and benefits in 
safety-net programs, handing out deficit-increasing GOP tax 
cuts heavily weighted to the wealthy, and providing urgently 
needed relief and stimulus during the Covid-19 crisis. There is 
nothing inherently partisan about using budget reconciliation. 
Many past budget reconciliation bills had bipartisan support; 
some did not. The process helps ensure that Congress can move 
forward and meet the country's needs. Without reconciliation, 
the bold action outlined by the President could languish 
indefinitely in the Senate, putting the future well being and 
prosperity of Americans at risk.
    Decades of disinvestment in our nation and its people have 
resulted in serious deficits in our society, spanning nearly 
every sector. We can no longer afford the costs of neglect and 
inaction--Congress must act expeditiously to enact the Build 
Back Better Act and deliver these critical investments.

         We Face Numerous, Inerconnected Crises and Challenges

    The coronavirus pandemic has infected tens of millions of 
Americans and taken the lives of nearly 700,000 loved ones, 
devastating families and communities. The corresponding 
economic crisis led to a record loss of more than 22 million 
jobs, skyrocketing unemploy ment insurance claims, a child care 
crisis and mass exodus of women from the work force, and a 
historic decline in growth. The climate crisis is displacing 
families, upending local economies, and endangering our 
national security. And our nation is reckoning with our racial 
justice crisis, as the effects of systemic racism and 
underlying inequities are being exposed and brought to the 
forefront of our nation's conscience.
    While the American Rescue Plan and other rescue packages 
helped address immediate health and economic concerns, they 
were not a long-term solution to many of the pressing 
challenges facing our nation. In fact, many of these pressing 
challenges have only compounded.
    Driven by the child care problems created by the pandemic, 
women have fallen out of the labor force in record numbers. 
Children are attending schools in buildings with crumbling 
infrastructure and no internet. Too many families do not have 
safe and affordable housing to live in. Rising health care 
costs are putting a strain on budgets for families and 
businesses. College has become unaffordable for too many 
students. Our veterans are being treated in hospitals and 
clinics that are in critical need of updating. Workers lack 
support when welcoming a new child or caring for a loved one. 
And we face a catastrophic climate crisis that threatens life 
as we know it.
    We can no longer afford the costs of neglect and inaction--
the time to act is now. The future of our nation and millions 
of American families are at stake.

                       The Build Back Better Act

    The Build Back Better Act makes the transformative 
investments at the scale necessary to meet the needs of the 
American people, address dangerous deficits in our society, 
improve our economic outlook, and set America up to compete and 
win in the decades ahead. With the Build Back Better Act, we 
will:
    Cut taxes for the middle class. The Build Back Better Act 
will deliver one of the biggest middle class tax cuts in 
history, keeping more money in the pockets of working families. 
The plan expands and enhances support for individuals and 
families with children, including the Child Tax Credit, the 
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and the Earned Income Tax 
Credit for childless workers. The expanded Child Tax Credit 
alone will lead to 90 percent of families and nearly 39 million 
households receiving a major tax cut. With over a third of 
adults with children struggling to pay for basic expenses like 
food, rent, health care and transportation, the expanded Child 
Tax Credit will make a substantial difference in families' 
lives.
    Create jobs. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. 
economy experienced record job loss and deep scars that we are 
still recovering from. The Build Back Better Act will invest in 
work force development to help workers train and get better 
jobs. The investments in higher education will also create a 
more skilled and dynamic work force and help position the 
United States as a global leader in innovation and the jobs of 
the future. The resources for child care and universal pre-k 
will help parents return to work knowing that their children 
are in good hands, while also creating more jobs in the care 
economy. Additionally, funded programs will create a new, 
diverse work force focused on addressing climate change and 
funding community resilience projects across the country.
    Lower costs for working families. The plan's investments 
will lower costs for working families with:
     Investments to lower drug prices--Americans pay 
higher prescription drug prices than people in other wealthy 
countries, and nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford 
their prescription drugs. The investments in the Build Back 
Better Act will allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, 
lowering costs for seniors and the Federal Government.
     Investments to lower health care costs--Too many 
families struggle to pay for health care, and millions of 
people are locked out of Medicaid because of states' refusal to 
expand the program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The 
resources in the Build Back Better Act will reduce premiums for 
Marketplace plans under the ACA, close the Medicaid coverage 
gap, and add dental, hearing and vision coverage to Medicare 
for the very first time.
     Investments to lower child care costs--Child care 
and high quality pre-k are expenses that most families struggle 
to afford and are a particular challenge for low-income 
families and families of color. The investments in the Build 
Back Better Act will create a comprehensive child care and 
universal pre-k program which will subsidize child care for 
families and provide high quality pre-k for all three-and four-
year-olds.
     Investments to lower the cost of education--Higher 
education has become a towering expense for most students, but 
increasingly useful in today's economy. The funding in the 
Build Back Better Act will provide two years of free community 
college to all students. These investments will also expand the 
value of the Pell Grant and provide funding for minority 
serving institutions to better support and serve their 
students.
    Tackle the climate crisis and strengthen resilience. The 
climate crisis is an existential threat that must be handled 
immediately. Postponing action will only make life harder for 
millions of families and endanger more lives as extreme weather 
events intensify. The Build Back Better Act will provide 
comprehensive investments, including clean energy and 
transportation tax credits, to help us reduce our carbon 
footprint. It invests in clean energy, efficiency, 
electrification, and climate justice through grants, consumer 
rebates, and Federal procurement of clean power and sustainable 
materials, and by incentivizing private sector development and 
investment. The plan will also drive economic opportunities, 
environmental conservation, and climate resilience--especially 
in under served and disadvantaged communities.
    Ensure Fiscal Responsibility. The Build Back Better Act 
ultimately will not add to the debt. This plan is prudently 
offset by provisions to ensure that high earners and 
corporations pay their fair share of taxes. Americans making 
less than $400,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by 
a penny. It is estimated that the top 1 percent evades $160 
billion in taxes each year while a typical working American 
pays their taxes. In 2020, 55 of the largest corporations paid 
zero dollars in Federal income taxes on more than $40 billion 
in profits. The Build Back Better Act will implement key 
reforms to make our tax system more equitable. It will repeal 
some of the nearly $2 trillion in unpaid tax giveaways to the 
wealthiest corporations and individuals enacted under the Trump 
Administration.
    Additionally, it is estimated that the Build Back Better 
Act will stimulate future economic growth, further helping to 
offset the costs of the plan. Leading economists project that 
the Build Back better Act will also ease longer-term 
inflationary pressures and, most importantly, help more 
Americans participate in the economy, resulting in a more 
equitable economy powered by shared prosperity and inclusive 
growth.

 The Budget Committee's Role in Delivering the Build Back Better Plan 
                                  Act

    The major steps in the reconciliation process, as provided 
for under Section 310 of the Budget Act, and how they apply in 
this instance, are the following:
    The Budget Resolution. Reconciliation can be triggered only 
by the adoption of a budget resolution. Therefore, the Fiscal 
Year 2022 budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 14), passed in 
August, carried reconciliation instructions for 13 committees 
that have jurisdiction over some portion of the Build Back 
Better Act.
    Authorizing Committees. Thirteen authorizing committees 
marked up legislative provisions pursuant to their instructions 
and transmitted them to the Committee on the Budget. This 
report incorporates the detailed descriptions of the provisions 
provided in the committees' submissions to the Budget 
Committee.
    The Budget Committee. Having received the submissions, the 
Committee on the Budget, as provided for under Section 310 of 
the Budget Act, has bound the provisions together, without 
substantive change, into a single measure--a reconciliation 
bill--and met to report the measure to the House for floor 
consideration.





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