Kaine Statement Applauding Build Back Better Framework Including His Key Priorities

Following Kaine’s Urging, The Framework Includes Investments in Job Training, Pre-K, Child Care, and Caregiving

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement applauding the framework announced today on the Build Back Better bill to lower costs and cut taxes for American families:

“This is the most pro-family package in generations. The combination of the Child Tax Credit, universal pre-K, and support for child care will help kids get a stronger start in life and lift millions of children out of poverty. I’m also pleased that, following my urging, we secured vital funding for job training to give Americans the skills they need to get the jobs that the bipartisan infrastructure bill will create. By passing this fully-funded bill with these pro-family and job training priorities, we can help more folks get back to work in good-paying jobs and build our economy back better.” 

As a member of both the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate HELP Committee, Kaine has worked tirelessly on this framework to deliver results for all Virginians. Following his efforts, the Build Back Better framework includes major investments in early education and child care as well as job training programs to help workers prepare for the jobs of the future, which Kaine has long championed. The Build Back Better framework makes significant investments based on Kaine’s bipartisan bills to support training for infrastructure-related jobs, address teacher shortages, and boost student success and career readiness at community colleges to address workforce shortages that are hurting our communities and economy.

The Build Back Better Framework will be fully paid for by making sure that large corporations and millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes. No American earning less than $400,000 per year will see an increase in taxes.

The bill also proposes major investments in:

Children and Caregiving

• Delivers two years of free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in America. Preschool in the United States costs about $8,600 per year.
• Extends the expanded Child Tax Credit, giving more than 35 million families a major tax cut to help families pay for necessities like food, housing, and health care.
• 1.6 million children across Virginia have already benefitted from the expanded CTC, including 249,000 children in the Commonwealth in poverty.
• Ensures that the vast majority of middle-class families will pay less than 7 percent of their income on child care and helps states expand access to high-quality, affordable child care to about 20 million children per year — covering 9 out of 10 families across the country with young children.
• Delivers affordable, high-quality care for older Americans and people with disabilities in their homes, while supporting the workers who provide this care.
• The Build Back Better framework contains provisions based on Kaine’s Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act, legislation to meet the growing demand for home and community-based services.

Housing 

• Makes the single largest and most comprehensive investment in affordable housing in history.

Health Care

• Helps Americans seniors access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare.
• Reduces premiums for more than 9 million Americans by extending the expanded Marketplace Premium Tax Credit. 

Climate

• Makes the largest investment in tackling climate change in American history through provisions such as residential and utility-scale clean energy tax credits; resilience investments; and clean energy manufacturing credits.

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