Everyone hitch your britches. This ride is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
by Zachary Halaschak, Economics Reporter |
| November 15, 2021 12:54 PM
President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill would cost nearly $5 trillion if several temporary provisions are made permanent, a nonpartisan budget think tank estimates.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that advocates for lower deficits, said Monday the current House iteration of the Build Back Better Act relies “on a number of arbitrary sunsets and expirations” to lower its sticker price. Republicans and outside groups have criticized those features of the bill as budget gimmickry.
“If the plan's temporary policies were made permanent, we find the cost would increase by as much as $2.5 trillion,” the public policy group said. “As a result, the gross cost of the bill would more than double from $2.4 trillion to $4.9 trillion.”
Democratic leadership lowered the headline cost of the legislation to about $2 trillion to appease centrists worried about adding to the debt, particularly Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Yet, Monday's estimates indicate the bill would cost far more when future extensions of provisions are taken into account.
One particularly costly measure would be an extension of the boosted child tax credit. Democrats recently expanded the child tax credit by increasing the money families receive from up to $2,000 per child to $3,600 for children under 6 years old and $3,000 for older children. However, the expansion is set to sunset.
The cost estimate for extending the expansion by one year is currently $130 billion, but the CRFB estimates it would cost $1.13 trillion over the next decade if made permanent .
While the group said raising the cap on the state and local tax deduction through 2025 would cost $285 billion, if it were to be made permanent as part of separate legislation, it would actually cost the United States $625 billion.
“We estimate that extending universal pre-K and the child care subsidies beyond 2027 would cost over $400 billion on a combined basis,” the group said. “Continuing the [Obamacare] expansion, which temporarily extends the American Rescue Plan's insurance subsidy expansions and offers subsidies to those in the Medicaid coverage gap, would cost another $400 billion to extend beyond 2025.”
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The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation recently said tax hikes that House Democrats plan to use to offset the costs of their spending proposal would raise enough revenue for at least a $1.5 trillion plan.
Despite the headline number, some proposals are left out of the JCT’s analysis of the legislation, including a plan to boost IRS funding, which Democrats believe will raise hundreds of billions over the next decade.
Cost of Democratic spending bill would double if temporary provisions extended, budget watchdog says - Washington Examiner
President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill would cost nearly $5 trillion if several temporary provisions are made permanent, a nonpartisan budget think tank estimates. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that advocates for lower deficits, said Monday the current...
www.washingtonexaminer.com
by Zachary Halaschak, Economics Reporter |
| November 15, 2021 12:54 PM
President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill would cost nearly $5 trillion if several temporary provisions are made permanent, a nonpartisan budget think tank estimates.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that advocates for lower deficits, said Monday the current House iteration of the Build Back Better Act relies “on a number of arbitrary sunsets and expirations” to lower its sticker price. Republicans and outside groups have criticized those features of the bill as budget gimmickry.
“If the plan's temporary policies were made permanent, we find the cost would increase by as much as $2.5 trillion,” the public policy group said. “As a result, the gross cost of the bill would more than double from $2.4 trillion to $4.9 trillion.”
Democratic leadership lowered the headline cost of the legislation to about $2 trillion to appease centrists worried about adding to the debt, particularly Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Yet, Monday's estimates indicate the bill would cost far more when future extensions of provisions are taken into account.
One particularly costly measure would be an extension of the boosted child tax credit. Democrats recently expanded the child tax credit by increasing the money families receive from up to $2,000 per child to $3,600 for children under 6 years old and $3,000 for older children. However, the expansion is set to sunset.
The cost estimate for extending the expansion by one year is currently $130 billion, but the CRFB estimates it would cost $1.13 trillion over the next decade if made permanent .
While the group said raising the cap on the state and local tax deduction through 2025 would cost $285 billion, if it were to be made permanent as part of separate legislation, it would actually cost the United States $625 billion.
“We estimate that extending universal pre-K and the child care subsidies beyond 2027 would cost over $400 billion on a combined basis,” the group said. “Continuing the [Obamacare] expansion, which temporarily extends the American Rescue Plan's insurance subsidy expansions and offers subsidies to those in the Medicaid coverage gap, would cost another $400 billion to extend beyond 2025.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation recently said tax hikes that House Democrats plan to use to offset the costs of their spending proposal would raise enough revenue for at least a $1.5 trillion plan.
Despite the headline number, some proposals are left out of the JCT’s analysis of the legislation, including a plan to boost IRS funding, which Democrats believe will raise hundreds of billions over the next decade.
