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After months of chaotic negotiations, President Joe Biden has released a new framework for the reconciliation bill—and what would have been historic programs such as paid family leave and free community college got the axe.
The Build Back Better bill, Biden’s ambitious agenda to invest in America’s social safety net, hit snags among Democrats as centrists battled over its steep price tag. Here’s what survived negotiations and what got cut.
What Got Eliminated from the Reconciliation Bill
The new framework for the Build Back Better bill, announced by the White House on Thursday, is $1.75 trillion, half of the $3.5 trillion proposal that was originally proposed. This framework will serve as a new focal point for Democrats’ negotiations.
It leaves out key programs, including:
Paid Family Leave
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not guarantee paid parental leave—and this unfortunate fact looks likely to endure.
The original plan included 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, replacing at least two-thirds of earnings up to $4,000 per month, with the lowest-paid workers receiving 80% of their income. But after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) raised objections to implement such leave, the period was slashed to four weeks, and…
