From Americans for Tax Fairness (https://americansfortaxfairness.org/):
Learn what you can do below!
Thanks to the work you’re doing Senate Democrats were united in passing the budget resolution last Wednesday. This was the first step for advancing President Biden’s $3.5 trillion Build Back Better package of historic job-creating investments through budget reconciliation, which will make healthcare, eldercare, childcare, housing and education more affordable, invest in clean energy, expand the Child Tax Credit and provide 12 weeks of Paid Family and Medical Leave.
The package will make the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. It will not raise taxes on anyone making under $400,000 a year. Budget reconciliation will allow the Build Back Better Plan to pass the Senate with just 51 votes, thereby avoiding a filibuster.
We wanted to be sure you saw that 620 state-based groups and 97 national organizations wrote Congress supporting President Biden’s tax plan and asking Congress to go even further than the president proposed when it comes to creating a fair share tax system. You can also find many individual state letters at this link.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to come back into session for 24 hours on August 23-24 to pass the budget resolution without changes. That will officially start the next step, which is crafting a reconciliation package that will get voted into law later this fall. But even before the House makes it official, committees in both chambers are already filling in the details for the reconciliation package now: how much to invest in healthcare, childcare, housing, clean energy and more, and how much revenue to raise from corporations and the wealthy. See ATF’s explanation of what’s at stake here.
Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin have already signaled that they’re uncomfortable with the size and scope of the $3.5 trillion package and want the entire reconciliation bill “paid for.” They may be speaking for other senators who are less willing to express concerns publicly but are working behind the scenes to limit the size of the package.
A group of nine centrist Democrats (see below and more info here) are now demanding that the House pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill this month that already passed the Senate, removing an incentive for them to support the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill. To pass a reconciliation bill, we can’t afford to lose a single Senate Democrat and we can only afford to lose three House Democrats.
Not surprisingly, corporate lobbyists see an opportunity to pick off a few moderate Democrats and significantly weaken the revenue raised by the bill. The procedural constraints on reconciliation mean that in a very literal sense, every dollar not raised from corporations and the wealthy is a dollar that can’t go to healthcare, long-term care expansions, childcare, paid family and medical leave, the child tax credit, clean energy credits, and more.
We need to keep up the heat on both Senate and House moderates who are key influencers among their peers. That means:
- Adding your organization’s name to the 620 groups on the state sign-on letter by going here (if you represent an organization).
- Joining a Call Congress Day on Monday, August 23, as the House gears up for a vote on the Senate Budget Resolution. Materials will be sent later this week, but in the meantime here are talking points from ATF and our polling firms.*
- Direct outreach to Member’s offices through phone calls, emails, lobby visits or events outside their offices (in-person or virtual). See our lobbying toolkit.*
- Letters to the editor at local media outlets, which we can help you write and place. See our LTE toolkit.
- Social media engagement. Go here for our digital toolkit about the nine renegade House Democrats that is best for state groups. Other toolkits are here and here.
*Find contact information for PA delegation:
- Senator Robert Casey: http://casey.senate.gov
- Senator Pat Toomey: http://toomey.senate.gov
- Your Representative: http://www.house.gov
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