Senate Democrats reach $3 5 trillion deal for Biden's 'human

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats reached an agreement Tuesday night on a $3.5 trillion budget plan that would expand Medicare, fund climate-change initiatives and fulfill other parts of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda that Democrats hope to pass on top of a bipartisan infrastructure bill. After a lengthy meeting among Democrats on the Senate’s Budget Committee, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, N. Y., announced the agreement for a budget reconciliation package that would fund what Biden has called "human infrastructure."Schumer said that when including $600 billion in new spending Biden has proposed in a separate bipartisan infrastructure proposal, the amount of new spending comes in around $4.1 trillion – close to Biden’s full infrastructure and family agendas.“Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way,” Schumer said. Proposals include expanded caregiving for the disabled and elderly, universal prekindergarten, subsidized child care, national paid family leave, extended child tax credits and an assortment of environmental initiatives. Schumer said Democrats also added a plan to expand Medicare – long a battle cry for progressives – including coverage for dental, vision and hearing. Biden is set to meet with Senate Democrats at the Capitol Wednesday to discuss the agreement. Senate Budget Committee chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had originally sought a $6 trillion reconciliation package, but he joined Schumer and other Democrats in a show of support for the compromise."This is, in our view, a very pivotal moment in American history," Sanders said. "The wealthy and large corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes, so that we can protect the working families of this country."Democrats hope to pass the legislation through reconciliation, which they could pass with a simple majority in the evenly divided Senate and avoid a filibuster — meaning they would not need to win 10 Republicans to push the bill through the chamber."We know we have a long road to go," Schumer said. "We're going to get this done for the sake of making average Americans' lives a whole lot better."Yet there's no guarantee Biden and Democratic leaders can unite all Senate Democrats in support of the package. Moderate Democrats including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., a key swing vote, have stayed noncommittal about backing another trillion-dollar package. Biden has proposed increasing taxes on corporations and doubling the capital gains tax to fund the "human infrastructure" and climate components. The president has said he won't raise taxes on any families earning less than $400,000 a year. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a key negotiator for the legislation, told reporters Tuesday night that the package would be fully financed with offsetting revenue, but he provided no details. This had been an issue for other centrist Democrats, including Manchin, who told reporters earlier Tuesday: "Everything should be paid for.

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