The president calls for trimming the nation’s deficits by $3 trillion in the next 10 years, doubling down on pitches to increase the corporate tax rate, enact a minimum tax on billionaires and quadruple the stock buybacks tax.
Democrats have also lauded proposals in the plan in areas including child care, climate change and housing.
“By proposing historic investments in child care, lowering drug prices and health care costs, increasing access to affordable housing, and helping people access higher paying jobs, President Biden is focused on helping the middle class and working Americans,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement on Monday.
The plan would raise funding for a number of offices, but one of the biggest jumps would be an 8.9 percent increase in budget authority for the Social Security Administration (SSA) compared with fiscal 2023 levels.
The White House said the funding boost is aimed at improving service delivery and expanding access to the program, particularly for “underserved communities.”
The budget plan also calls for the establishment of a national paid family and medical leave program that would operate under the SSA, similar to a proposal Democrats pushed for as part of Biden’s signature “Build Back Better” plan when he first took office.
The Environmental Protection Agency would see an 8.4 percent increase in budget authority from fiscal 2023 levels under the plan, with proposals focused on tackling climate change, investing in water infrastructure and securing more dollars for the Office of Air and Radiation and grant programs aimed at combating lead contamination in drinking water.
The sprawling proposal calls for more support for a wide array of agencies and services key to Democratic priorities, including increases to the maximum Pell Grant award and the housing voucher program, improved immigration courts, and Democratic wish list items such as a proposal for a new program guaranteeing affordable child care for families with annual incomes below $200,000.
Upon the plan’s rollout, budget hawks welcomed Biden’s tax proposals to reduce the national deficit, but they said more action is needed to address the federal government’s climbing debt.
The Hill’s Aris Folley and Julia Mueller have more here.
