Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee said on July 13 that they have reached an agreement on a $3.5 trillion package that includes many provisions backed by President Joe Biden, including on climate change, expanding Medicare, and plans to address “human” infrastructure.
The announcement was made by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) following a two-hour meeting. Top Democrats said they plan to advance the trillion-dollar deal alongside a bipartisan deal that would spend around $1 trillion on roads, water systems, and other infrastructure projects, but that omits many of Democrats’ priorities.
“We are very proud of this plan,” Schumer told reporters, alongside 11 Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee. “We know we have a long road to go. We’re going to get this done for the sake of making average Americans’ lives a whole lot better.”
Schumer says the agreement would call for financing Biden’s budget priorities “in a robust way.”
“The budget resolution with instructions will be $3.5 trillion. You add that to the $600 billion bipartisan plan, you get to $4.1 [trillion], which is very, very close to what President Biden asked us for,” Schumer said. “Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way.”
However, he and other lawmakers didn’t respond when asked if they had the support of all 50 senators they will need to push the measure through the evenly divided Senate.- READ MORE
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