Civic Register
| 4.29.21

What's in Biden's 'American Families Plan'?

Do you support or oppose the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan?

What’s the story?

  • President Joe Biden used a significant portion of his first joint address to Congress to push for the adoption of a $1.8 trillion “social infrastructure” package that his administration has dubbed the “American Families Plan.” Biden cast his plan as essential for the future competitiveness of the U.S. in his remarks:
“To win that competition for the future, in my view, we also need to make a once-in-a-generation investment in our families and our children. That’s why I’ve introduced the American Families Plan tonight, which addresses four of the biggest challenges facing American families and, in turn, America.”
  • Democrats in Congress are still undecided as to whether they consider the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan and the more than $2.25 trillion “American Jobs Plan” (which focused more on physical infrastructure) as one package or separately. Neither has been drafted as legislation yet, although there has been growing discussion about using the reconciliation process to pass the proposals on party-line votes.
  • Republicans have criticized the plans as excessive, given that the latest pair of plans total more than $4 trillion. When tacked on to the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” enacted by Democrats along party-lines earlier this year, that would bring the total additional spending advanced by the Biden administration to roughly $6 trillion.
  • For comparison, the $6 trillion in spending Biden has advocated outpaces the roughly $4.5 trillion in total federal spending in a typical year (which includes over $3 trillion in mandatory spending on Medicare, Social Security, and interest on the national debt plus about $1.5 trillion in discretionary spending). It also exceeds the $4 trillion in supplemental spending Congress enacted on a bipartisan basis in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic between March 2020 and January 2021 during the Trump administration.
  • GOP senators have proposed a $568 billion infrastructure package as a counteroffer to Democrats’ plan. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who delivered the GOP rebuttal to Biden’s address, said that infrastructure is an issue that “should unite us” but criticized Biden’s latest plan as partisan in his speech:
“Republicans support everything you think of when you think of “infrastructure.” Roads, bridges, ports, airports, waterways, high-speed broadband ― we’re all in! But again, Democrats want a partisan wish list. They won’t even build bridges… to build bridges! Less than 6% of the President’s plan goes to roads and bridges. It’s a liberal wish-list of Big Government waste… plus the biggest job-killing tax hikes in a generation. Experts say, when all is said and done, it would lower Americans’ wages and shrink our economy. Tonight we also heard about a so-called “Family Plan.” Even more taxing, even more spending, to put Washington even more in the middle of your life ― from the cradle, to college.”

What’s in the plan?

  • Child Tax Credits: The recent one-year expansions of the child tax credit (CTC) would be extended through 2025 at a cost of $420 billion, or made permanent which would cost an additional $75 billion over the next decade. (The American Rescue Plan increased the CTC to $3,000 per child, or $3,600 per child under age 6; broadened eligibility to include 17-year-olds; and made the CTC fully refundable for 2021.)
  • Childcare: The plan would subsidize childcare through a system in which families would pay a portion of their income on a sliding scale, with some funding going to the training of childcare workers. These provisions would cost $225 billion over 10 years.
  • Paid Family and Medical Leave: The plan would provide 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave at a cost of $225 billion over 10 years.
  • Universal Pre-Kindergarten: This part of the proposal would provide pre-kindergarten instruction to all three- and four-year-olds at a cost of $200 billion over a decade.
  • Permanent ACA Tax Credits: The American Families Plan would make federal tax credits for health insurance premium assistance under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) a permanent provision at a cost of $200 billion over 10 years.
  • Subsidized Community College: Biden’s plan would subsidize the cost of two years of community college at an estimated cost of $109 billion for a decade. 
  • Tax Hikes: Biden’s plan would partially offset the spending through a series of tax hikes, such as raising the capital gains tax rate to 39.6% from 20% for taxpayers earning over $1 million annually and raising the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6% from 37% for taxpayers at that income level, in addition to changing how capital gains taxes are treated at death. Those provisions would raise a projected $541 billion in revenue over a decade, while the plan would also apply the 3.8% Medicare tax uniformly (raising $200 billion over a decade) and make the active loss limitation permanent ($138 billion over 10 years). It would also increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by $80 billion over the next decade in an effort to fight tax evasion and collect more revenue.


— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: The White House via Flickr / Public Domain)

  • 86
    Skyler
    05/14/2021

    In other news: “Biden proposes $2 trillion in spending to study why inflation continues to rise!”

  • 82
    Jenduster
    05/11/2021

    Americans need this! Tax the wealthy and corporations for once and let’s have a middle class that can actually live a decent life.

  • 219
    Zoe
    05/07/2021

    The American Families Plan contains measures will create a foundation of success for so many people. Ensuring that children can have better access to education and that parents can have childcare and therefore return to work will help the economy tremendously. The tax hikes are a great way to not only pay for the bill, but also reverse so damage that the last administration did and make sure that the rich finally pay their fair share.

  • 65
    Amanda
    05/06/2021

    Social infrastructure. That's one thing j can say for BFBiden. He's always right out in the open about certain things. Admitting Voters fraud and now a Social infrastructure.

  • 276
    JediJ
    05/06/2021

    We are spending ourselves into oblivion. Such a massive bill is unneeded and ill advised.

  • 1,479
    Bonn77
    05/05/2021

    Building the middle class is strengthening the backbone of America!

  • 174
    Polardoom
    05/05/2021

    @Brian “I hear people on the right complain all the time about getting people into jobs and increasing workforce participation. One of the biggest drivers of people's not working is the fact that many have to stay home to take care of family members. If you're really concerned about getting people back to work, you need to give people the freedom to work by providing for their families' basic needs.” In my personal opinion, it isn’t the government’s job to “provide a family’s basic needs”. It is their job to ensure the system is treating everyone fairly so that each family has “equal opportunity” to provide for their own, this is a major overstep of “big daddy government”. Now, I could also liken this situation to the need for us to constantly manage the populations of wildlife - in that we SHOULD NOT (as humans) have any place in doing so, HOWEVER, is it a case now where we have created so much chaos and havoc by reaching in and “helping” where we didn’t belong, that now there’s no going back? .. all for “maybe” helping families, if there isn’t some other motive hidden under a term being redefined to suit needs. Trust no one. Always verify. Freedom is freedom, no stipulations - free to either succeed or fail - no one owes anyone anything based on their existence in this country. I struggle for every dollar I have because this is the place I put myself with my life choices, I’m not asking for free handouts from the government, and I expect that those who are true Americans understand this basic concept of “personal responsibility and accountability”. I mean gee, maybe if I had a few kids then I could just grab some government money bags for myself also... those without kids get the shaft in these policies and it breeds resentful attitudes to the inequality of it. Sorry. You chose to have children. That’s on you. Figure your life out. The rest of us knew we couldn’t afford them and haven’t had them. Personal & fiscal responsibility & accountability. Not that hard.

  • 174
    Polardoom
    05/05/2021

    Where is allll this money coming from!? Fiscally responsible?? I am concerned for my future because of all this wasteful spending of money we just don’t have. Print it?? Good luck with the dollar in the next decade. I fear a massive crash from all this irresponsible “make it rain” policies with regards to our money. Raise taxes? How am I supposed to pay higher taxes when I’m struggling just to pay rent and feed myself?? Completely out of touch with reality all of this is.....

  • 351
    Gary
    05/05/2021

    yes!!!!!!

  • 17.0k
    Joanne
    05/05/2021

    Ah! Moscow Mitch. McTurdle. You've done everything and more that you accuse the Democrats of. You're full of 🐂💩. Brian you tell it like it is. 😷

  • 694
    Randall
    05/04/2021

    It is not the government's job to do what is a parent's responsibility. Life can be hard and always has challenges but there are some things that are individual responsibilities that should not be grabbed by government. This country is $30 trillion dollars in debt and more debt is being pushed on us all the time. It is time to let us take care of ourselves and realize that government cannot play God.

  • 122
    Robert
    05/04/2021

    Assist ALL eligiable American toward success

  • 354
    deborah
    05/04/2021

    I along with most Middle Class Voters both Democratic & Republican fully support this Plan. It will rebuild our degrading infrastructure, help families with Child & Elder Care, & provide thousands of good paying Jobs The Republicans are the Party of the Rich DO NOTHING, Domestic Terrorist Supporters, & the continue to promote The BIG LIE !! The Voters know under Moscow Mitch, the LYING Republicans will do NOTHING to help our Country go forth into the Future. They support Voter Suppression because we the Voters will Vote out these Non Working Republicans at every level of City, State & Federal Government in every election starting with this year, right here in Pa. Sen. Toomey.

  • 2,511
    Joan
    05/04/2021

    It is about time that the 'common folk' can benefit from government. For far too long, Republicans have given tax cuts to their rich friends and kowtowed to businesses who do not pass along the benefits to their workers or their customers. I fully support helping the vast majority of Americans so that we can ALL be part of a prosperous country.

  • 3,959
    Jean
    05/04/2021

    CAUSES ASKS: "Do you support or oppose the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan?" ME: Support. It's time we, the people, get the break rather than corporations and the 1%.

  • 1,831
    George
    05/04/2021

    This plan is very popular please support it

  • 1,927
    Paul
    05/04/2021

    It's only money. What's our long-term national health and security worth? This puts principles before money. Good for our president!

  • 1,141
    Sandra
    05/04/2021

    I may not agree with everything Biden is doing but THIS is impressing the hell out of me. I hope we can prevent the GQP from rigging the 2022 elections and keep the progress going...

  • 355
    Matt
    05/04/2021

    I don't trust those bastards at all! 1/10 of 1 percent for the people, the rest is laundered to themselves and their puppet masters.

  • 1,212
    colin
    05/04/2021

    We need to slow down the spending and define the repayment ability. Spend the money after you have it and not until.