Rep. Watson Coleman Statement on House Passage of Build Back Better Act

Bill Includes Federal Investment in Housing, Child Care, Improved Health Care Through Medicare Expansion, and Paid Family and Medical Leave

Washington, DC (November 19, 2021) — Today Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman applauded the passage of the Build Back Better Act issuing the following statement:

“This morning, we have taken a step towards securing one of the most transformative and progressive pieces of legislation in recent history, and at a time when Americans are most in need of support. The Build Back Better Framework will bring down costs that have held back families in New Jersey, and across the nation by cutting taxes, and making child care, education, health care, and housing more affordable.

In conjunction with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century, the Build Back Better Act delivers the immediate and tangible change in the lives of working people across the country. This bill will create long overdue and urgently needed results to hardworking families, and level the playing field so that corporations and the wealthiest Americans finally pay their fair share in taxes.

As this bill heads to the Senate, I hope that my colleagues there will recognize the importance of delivering this relief to hard working American families without weakening the provisions that make this legislation so significant.”

Among the provisions in the bill are:

·         $150 billion federal investment in housing, the largest in our history, for one million new and improved affordable housing units;

·         Universal preschool for three- and four-year-olds in the largest expansion of public education since the K-12 system was originally created;

·         High-quality child care, where no family pays more than 7 percent of a their income;

·         A half-trillion dollar investment in taking on climate change, with meaningful reductions in carbon emissions and Justice 40 measures that get us on the path to a clean energy future;

·         A Civilian Climate Corps to create green jobs in communities most impacted by climate change;

·         Medicare expansion of hearing aids, as well as subsidies for low-income families in states that have not expanded Medicaid;

·         Provisions to cap insulin costs, allow Medicare to negotiate down the prices of some of the most expensive drugs, limit out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, and penalties for pharma companies that increase prices faster than inflation;

·         Funding for home-based care for seniors and people with disabilities, and to raise the wages of in-home care workers;

·         Four weeks paid family and medical leave, the first national investment in paid leave in American history;

·         Provisions to provide Dreamers, TPS holders, essential workers, and farmworkers protection from deportation, work permits, access to benefits, and freedom to travel.

A full summary of the bill can be found here.