BUDGET RECONCILIATION NEWS
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From Cradle to Grave, Democrats Move to Expand Social Safety Net
When congressional committees meet this week to begin formally drafting Democrats’ ambitious social policy plan, they will be undertaking the most significant expansion of the nation’s safety net since the war on poverty in the 1960s, devising legislation that would touch virtually every American’s life, from conception to aged infirmity. President Biden, who has staked much of his domestic legacy on the measure’s enactment, will need the vote of every single Democrat in the Senate, and virtually every one in the House, to secure it. [T]he proposed legislation would be so transformative—a cradle-to-grave reweaving of a social safety net frayed by decades of expanding income inequality, stagnating wealth and depleted governmental resources, capped by the worst public health crisis in a century. Democrats say they will finance their spending with proposed tax increases on corporations . . . and by possibly taxing wealth in ways that the United States has never tried before. To Republicans, who are readying a counteroffensive, the Democratic plans are nothing short of socialism. ( The New York Times - Sept. 6, 2021)
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White House Releases $65 Billion Pandemic Preparedness Proposal
An ambitious new plan from the White House that has a $65.3 billion price tag and an Apollo program design would transform the way the United States responds to pandemics in part by vastly accelerating vaccine development, testing, and production. The plan, announced today, hopes to launch with $15 billion set aside in a budget reconciliation bill now before Congress (but not certain to pass). It asks Congress to provide the rest of the funding over the next decade. It calls for an Apollo-like “mission control” center to coordinate the many branches of government already involved with pandemic preparedness. Nearly 40% of the money would go toward vaccines, followed by just under 20% for treatments. The rest would support new diagnostics, early warning systems, improved public health and biosafety measures, and global health efforts. ( Science Magazine - Sept. 3, 2021)
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House Budget Reconciliation Package Funds NASA Infrastructure but Not Lunar Lander Work
The House Science Committee will mark up its portion of a multitrillion-dollar spending bill this week that includes several billion dollars for NASA infrastructure but nothing for lunar lander development. The House Science Committee is scheduled to meet Sept. 9 to mark up a portion of a $3.5 trillion spending bill being considered under a process known as budget reconciliation. That procedure allows the bill to pass the Senate with a simple majority without the threat of a filibuster. The committee will allocate $45.51 billion in spending for agencies under its jurisdiction, such as NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation. That will be combined with portions of the bill assigned to other committees into the final version to be considered by the full House. An updated draft of the bill, dated Sept. 4, offers good and bad news for NASA. It includes $4 billion for “repair, recapitalization, and modernization of physical infrastructure and facilities” across the agency. The bill does not assign amounts to specific projects or centers. The bill provides more than $3.4 billion for NSF infrastructure projects, such as major research equipment and construction projects. The NSF would get an additional $7.55 billion for research awards, scholarships and fellowships. ( SpaceNews - Sept. 6, 2021)
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