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THE BIG DEAL—Here are the key parts of Democrats’ $3.5T budget resolution: Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled a $3.5 trillion budget resolution they aim to pass without Republican support, paving the way for boosting spending in a number of key areas in line with the president’s legislative agenda through a process called reconciliation.
- Democrats say the massive spending framework would unlock funding for universal pre-K and tuition-free community college, while making investments in public housing and clean energy efforts and expanding healthcare.
- Republicans will oppose the measure unanimously, and argue the spending is irresponsible.
These are the key areas the newly released budget framework would approve spending for, from The Hill’s Aris Folley.
- Tax hikes on wealthy individuals, corporations: The Democrats’ budget resolution would raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations while pledging to provide tax relief for middle-class families. Their plans also call for the extension of tax credits for families and low-income individuals, including the child tax credit, which provides millions of families with monthly checks of up to $300 per child.
- Major health care expansions: Democrats said the reconciliation package will include measures to have the federal government step in and provide health coverage in the 12 GOP-led states that have declined to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
- Universal pre-K and tuition-free community college: With the new framework, Democrats are aiming to put funding toward securing universal education for children ages 3 and 4 years old, as well as making community college free for up to two years.
- Immigration and a pathway to citizenship: The budget resolution will pave the way for Democrats to include investments in border security and provide a pathway for citizenship in their spending plan.
- Infrastructure and jobs: Democrats said the bill would include a “historic level” of funding for public housing, green and sustainable housing, housing production and affordability, as well as workforce development and job training programs.
What comes next: The budget resolution covers much of the ground we already know at this point. The real challenge is turning these goals into actual legislative text that can get the support of nearly every Democratic lawmaker. That is obviously far easier said than done.
Debt ceiling questions remain: The budget resolution does not include an increase or suspension of the debt ceiling, which kicked back in on Aug. 1 and will likely need to be addressed before October.
- Republicans have warned Democrats that they will not back a debt ceiling increase or hike without other debt-reduction measures, insisting they should pass it through budget reconciliation instead.
- But Democrats are not going down that route yet, raising questions about how they plan to address a potential financial calamity.
The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more here.
LEADING THE DAY
Job openings hit 10.1 million in third straight record-breaking month: Job openings rose to a record high in June for a third straight month as layoffs remained at historic lows, according to data released Monday by the Labor Department.
- On the final business day of June, there were 10.1 million open jobs in the U.S. after 6.7 million hires that month.
- The quit rate — the ratio of voluntary departures to total employment in June — rose to a near-record 2.7 percent while the layoffs rate held at 0.9 percent.
The department’s latest job openings and labor turnover report shows how the reopening of the U.S. economy has spurred unprecedented demand for employees in a narrow window of time.
- Workers who were forced out of the labor market during the onset of the pandemic are now returning to myriad job options, while those already employed are leaving their gigs at a record pace seeking new employment.
- The rush to hire has also pushed wages higher after several years of meager growth, but higher inflation has wiped out much of the relative benefit at this point in the recovery.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Average pay for restaurant and grocery workers rose above $15 an hour for the first time, according to Labor Department data reviewed by The Washington Post.
- A growing number of bars and restaurants have imposed vaccine mandates, a new trend after President Biden directed all federal employees to show that they are vaccinated or submit to regular testing for COVID-19.
- A standoff over the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill is poised to drag out the Senate’s debate for days, with GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty (Tenn.) vowing he will block attempts to speed up passage of the legislation.
- A bipartisan amendment to redefine who would be subject to new cryptocurrency regulation requirements under the Senate infrastructure bill was blocked Monday after Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) tried to attach his untreated proposal to boost military spending by $50 billion.