SEIU launches six-figure ad buy pushing lawmakers to pass Build Back Better

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) launched a six-figure ad buy on Monday pushing senators to pass President Biden’s sweeping social spending legislation, known as Build Back Better. 

The $800,000 television and digital ad blitz will air in West Virginia, Arizona and Washington, D.C. The two ads, titled “Inaction” and “Homecare,” cite various issues that are included in Build Back Better, including caregiving and prescription drug prices. 

The Hill was the first outlet to view the 30-second spots. 

“We will not allow the Build Back Better agenda to stall while hundreds of thousands of seniors and people with disabilities face hurdles to home care, millions struggle to afford prescription drugs and child care, and with the climate crisis at our doors,” said SEIU president Mary Kay Henry in a statement to The Hill.

“Congress and President Biden have a unique opportunity to deliver good, union jobs and lower costs for working families today. It’s time to deliver.”

The ad blitz comes as Democrats on Capitol Hill seek to chart a new path forward on the social spending package after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) stalled the legislation in December, saying in a Fox News Sunday interview that he could not support the package in its current form. 

The West Virginia senator said the package was too big. His opposition creates additional hurdles for House Democratic leadership who had united their caucus around the $2.2 trillion package last year and now face intraparty disagreements over how best to get a slimmed down version of the legislation to Biden’s desk.

Conservative groups have also targeted Manchin, pushing him to oppose any future legislation. Last week, the Common Sense Leadership Fund announced it was running a seven-figure ad buy in West Virginia and Montana to push Manchin and fellow moderate Democratic Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) to oppose Build Back Better.