President Biden and Congressional Democrats Consider Renewed Strategy in Passing Build Back Better Act

Negotiations over the Build Back Better Act began to fall apart in the Senate in late December. Then, those negotiations halted for the holiday break and remained stalled during the Senate’s focus on voting rights and filibuster reform in early January. Now, momentum might once again be growing to move the Build Back Better legislation forward—but not in a way that would keep the full legislative package intact.

Last week, some congressional Democrats began pushing forward a strategy to break up the Build Back Better Act into smaller bills. Then, on Wednesday, during his press conference, President Biden stated that in order to get the Build Back Better legislation passed, “It’s clear to me that we are going to have to probably break it up.” Following the President’s statement, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated that he was open to reengaging in negotiations over the Build Back Better Act, but stated that they’ll “be starting from scratch.”

It is not known which provisions from the original Build Back Better legislation will move forward in a smaller bill, but it is likely that the focus will be on climate and clean energy funding, expanded Affordable Care Act funding, universal pre-K, and health care. In response to these developments, ANCOR released a statement last week reiterating the need for significant HCBS funding, regardless of what format the revised Build Back Better legislation takes.

We will continue to provide updates as we know more about negotiations over the Build Back Better Act and which provisions will be included in any bill that moves forward.