Build Back Better Plan

The Build Back Better Plan or Build Back Better Agenda was a legislative framework proposed by U.S. President <a href="/facts/Joe_Biden/fe2ThfUp">Joe Biden</a> between 2020 and 2021. Generally viewed as ambitious in size and scope, it sought the largest nationwide public investment in social, infrastructural, and environmental programs since the 1930s <a href="/facts/Great_Depression/5K13wcg0">Great Depression-era</a> policies of the <a href="/facts/New_Deal/R33TXQFB">New Deal</a>.[non-primary source needed]
The Build Back Better plan was divided into three parts:

<ol><li>American Rescue Plan (ARP), a <a href="/facts/COVID-19_pandemic/0xTsh7Ut">COVID-19 pandemic</a>-relief bill;</li>
<li>American Jobs Plan (AJP), a proposal to address long-neglected infrastructure needs and reduce America's contributions to destructive effects of <a href="/facts/Climate_change/rEN4BDE7">climate change</a>;</li>
<li>American Families Plan (AFP), a proposal to fund a variety of <a href="/facts/Social_policy/XnjxCY69">social policy</a> initiatives, some of which (e.g., paid <a href="/facts/Parental_leave/DIns43dB">parental leave</a>) had never before been enacted nationally in the U.S.</li></ol>
The first part was passed as the $1.9 trillion <a href="/facts/American_Rescue_Plan_Act_of_2021/ll95sBKv">American Rescue Plan Act of 2021</a>, and was signed into law in March 2021. The other two parts were reworked into different bills over the course of extensive negotiations. Aspects of the AJP's infrastructure goals were diverted into the <a href="/facts/Infrastructure_Investment_and_Jobs_Act/T64dfk69">Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act</a>, which was signed into law in November 2021.
Other AJP priorities (e.g., climate change remediation, <a href="/facts/Home_health_care/zQot3XF5">home health care</a> reform, etc.) were then merged with the AFP to form the <a href="/facts/Build_Back_Better_Act/mK0MKSzb">Build Back Better Act</a>. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled <a href="/facts/United_States_House_of_Representatives/cdBPb9pY">House of Representatives</a> but struggled to gain the support of Democrats <a href="/facts/Joe_Manchin/cAWqcPkI">Joe Manchin</a> of <a href="/facts/West_Virginia/USP8LtCq">West Virginia</a> and <a href="/facts/Kyrsten_Sinema/FLnHASxo">Kyrsten Sinema</a> of <a href="/facts/Arizona/6ayM3swJ">Arizona</a> in the evenly divided <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">Senate</a>, with unified <a href="/facts/Republican_Party_(United_States)/XXM1EVPr">Republican</a> opposition. Manchin and Sinema negotiated the reduction of Build Back Better Act's size, scope, and cost significantly with Biden and Democratic congressional leaders, but Manchin, widely viewed as the key <a href="/facts/Swing_vote/h8wXb4E2">swing vote</a> needed to pass the bill in the Senate, ultimately rejected it, citing unresolved disputes about the short- and long-term costs of the legislative package.
Continued negotiations between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader <a href="/facts/Chuck_Schumer/GsrvwB2w">Chuck Schumer</a> eventually resulted in the <a href="/facts/Inflation_Reduction_Act_of_2022/8Cdfo0tk">Inflation Reduction Act of 2022</a>, which was signed into law in August 2022, and incorporated some of the Build Back Better Act's climate change, healthcare, and tax reform proposals while excluding its social safety net proposals.

Build Back Better Plan open-in-new

Build Back Better Plan