A new ruling by Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough threatens to upend Democrats plans to pass President Biden s infrastructure proposals.MacDonough quietly issued a new ruling on Friday stating that the Senate cannot use budget reconciliation, which allows the chamber to pass budgetary bil.
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On Nov. 6 of last year, the country narrowly voted for a self-described centrist to be president. At the same time, it handed Congress to the Democratic Party in such an exquisitely slender fashion that it would not be clear until the beginning of
January whether control of the federal government was to be divided or unified. Once the “moderate” president was sworn in, he and his barely-in-the-majority party proposed restructuring the country from top to bottom, making permanent alterations to the constitutional order if need be. Finally, President Joe Biden has embraced his supporters’ and liberal pundits’ pronouncements that he can and should be “another FDR or LBJ.”
Note
: Congress recently voted on a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA, P.L.117-2). It includes stimulus checks for individuals, expanded unemployment benefits, and funding for vaccines, state and local governments, schools and child care. The ARPA marks a huge win for the Biden administration during its first 50 days in office.
Before the ink is dry, the administration has already pivoted to the second phase of the Biden agenda: Build Back Better. While ARPA was largely a relief bill, the next phase will be about rebuilding the economy, starting with a
mult
itrillion-dollar
plan that includes infrastructure, green energy and incentives to bolster domestic manufacturing. It will also build upon the individual relief provided in the first bill and seek to make those provisions permanent and will likely be paid for by corporate tax rate increases, a repeal of oil and gas tax breaks and increases in taxes on the wealthy.
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Essentially, one commentator calculates that, with these changes, a family of four making $85,000 with $25,000 in health insurance coverage costs, will go from no federal support to a maximum payment for insurance of $7,000, or subsidies for such coverage will go from zero to $18,000. The American Rescue Plan provides various additional levels of support for all income levels, as shown in the table above.
2. Expands ACA cost-sharing support for the unemployed. The Senate legislation adds cost-sharing support for unemployed Americans enrolled in a qualified health plan. Currently, for those enrolled in such a plan who make between 100 and 400 percent of the FPL, the ACA mandates insurers reduce cost-sharing in phased amounts to make out-of-pocket expenses more affordable for lower-income Americans. The Senate legislation amends this provision for 2021 to deem that any person who received (or is approved to receive) unemployment compensation for any week during 2021 meets the req