WASHINGTON — Senate Budget Committee Democrats worked late into the night and announced a $3.5 trillion agreement that will officially begin the budget reconciliation process.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer along with Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders announced the deal after a late-night meeting at the U.S. Capitol.
“The budget resolution with instructions will be $3.5 trillion. You add that to the $600 billion bipartisan plan, you get to $4.1 (trillion), which is very, very close to what President (Joe) Biden asked us for,” Schumer said. “Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way.”
Schumer said the deal will include a “robust expansion of Medicare” that will have key new benefits like dental, vision and hearing, along with major funding for clean energy.
“Joe Biden is coming to our lunch tomorrow to lead us on to getting this wonderful plan that affects American families in a so profound way, more than anything that’s happened to generations,” Schumer told reporters. “We are very proud of this plan we know we have a long road to go. We’re going to get this done for the sake of making average Americans lives a whole lot better.”
The deal would also prohibit tax increases on people making under $400,000 and small businesses.
“What this legislation says among many, many other things that those days are gone. The wealthy and large corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes, so that we can protect the working families in this country,” Sanders said.
The Democrats know they have no room for error as they cannot lose a vote in the 50-50 Senate and can lose only four votes in a slim House of Representatives majority.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia says he believes the bill will have 50 votes and make it to President Joe Biden’s desk.
