White House aides prepare $ 3 trillion jobs package for Biden



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The proposal, which Biden’s top advisers have been deliberating on for weeks, would be segmented into two distinct parts – one focused on infrastructure and clean energy, and the second on what’s known as “the economics of people.” care ”with a focus on major national economic issues.

In its entirety, this would mark a sweeping move towards enacting key elements of the ‘jobs’ agenda that Biden introduced in large part during his campaign for president, with a series of potential tax increases on businesses and the wealthy. as options to fund any longer term expenses in the final proposal.

White House officials stressed that no final decisions on the final path forward have been made at this point. Biden has yet to consider the proposals and plans to consult heavily with Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the scale and legislative sequence of his agenda’s next key pillar.

“President Biden and his team are considering a range of potential options for investing in working families and reforming our tax code so that it rewards work, not wealth,” said the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, in a statement. “These conversations are ongoing, so any speculation on future economic proposals is premature and does not reflect the thinking of the White House.”

But the move to presenting proposals directly to Biden represents a crucial next step as the White House prepares to vote on the scale of its next big legislative agenda item.

The president pledged to divide his main economic agenda items into two parts – a “bailout” plan, which was enacted this month, and a “stimulus” plan, which he had. intend to use for a broad program of jobs with a strong emphasis. on infrastructure.

Biden and his top advisers kept the focus on the $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 bailout, however slowing the process to the next stage of the agenda, as they sought to secure its passage , then spent several weeks promoting its key elements to the American public.

At this point, recommendations for the next phase have yet to reach Biden’s office, officials say, although they will likely do so within the next week as the White House moves towards the address. Biden’s spouse in Congress at one point, probably in April.

The infrastructure proposal would focus heavily on money for roads, bridges and rails, and would include hundreds of billions of dollars in spending on climate-related measures, as well as climate-related research and development. This would also include $ 100 billion for education infrastructure.

The national economy part of the plan would include top Biden campaign priorities such as universal pre-K, significant spending on child care, child care, and proposals designed to try and treat parts of the hand. -Workers hardest hit by the pandemic economy.

Biden plans to seek bipartisan support, according to his advisers. He has already held several bipartisan Oval Office meetings on the issue. In a meeting with union leaders from the Oval Office in February, Biden repeatedly stressed that he believed there was a path for bipartisanship on the issue, according to a participant.

But officials also predict that Congressional Democrats will move alongside a budget process that would allow any package to pass a simple majority in the U.S. Senate.

While infrastructure has long been an area of ​​bipartisan agreement, Democrats on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue have clearly raised taxes on the wealthy, and businesses are likely avenues to fund the proposal’s long-term spending.

While Biden has said what he plans to do in terms of policy during the campaign – and that any tax hikes will largely be removed from the menu of options Biden presented before he took office, officials say, the possibility has already drawn the anger of the top Republicans.

It’s something Democrats are keenly aware of – and has fueled debates both on Capitol Hill and inside the West Wing about how to structure the legislative push. In the coming weeks, Biden is expected to weigh in on his position, while remaining in close contact with Schumer and Pelosi, officials said.

While planning remains fluid, officials tentatively view Biden’s likely joint speech to Congress in April as a time when key thematic elements of the package are clarified.

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