WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A divided House moved toward passage of Democrats\u2019 expansive social and environment bill on Thursday as new cost estimates from Congress\u2019 top fiscal analyst sugg\u2026<\/b>
\nBy ALAN FRAM WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A divided House moved toward passage of Democrats\u2019 expansive social and environment bill on Thursday as new cost estimates from Congress\u2019 top fiscal analyst suggested that moderate lawmakers\u2019 worries about spending and deficits would be calmed, giving the bill the votes it needs for passage. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told lawmakers in a letter Thursday evening that the chamber would soon begin final debate on the sprawling legislation. That would put the House on the doorstep of finally approving the package, a top priority for President Joe Biden that would bolster child care assistance, create free preschool, curb seniors\u2019 prescription drug costs and beef up efforts to slow climate change. \u201cAt the close of the debate, all that remains is to take up the vote \u2014 so that we can pass this legislation and achieve President Biden\u2019s vision to Build Back Better!\u201d Pelosi wrote, using Biden\u2019s name for the measure. An initial batch of key figures released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office showed that its projections were aligning closely with earlier estimates from the White House. That included tax credits to spur clean energy development, a new required paid family leave program, bolstered child care assistance and caps on seniors\u2019 prescription drug costs. Two weeks after centrists\u2019 objections forced Democrats to delay the measure, the bill began moving amid optimistic signs from leaders and lawmakers that their divisions were all but resolved \u2014 for now. Facing uniform Republican opposition, Democrats can lose no more than three votes to prevail in the House. The CBO was expected to estimate that the bill\u2019s overall cost would be modestly higher than the 10-year, $1.85 trillion price tag Democrats have been citing. It was also expected to project the measure would produce deficits of perhaps $200 billion over the coming decade. Biden and other Democratic leaders have said the measure would pay for itself, largely through tax increases on the wealthy, big corporations and companies doing business abroad. Early signs were that CBO\u2019s numbers were unlikely to derail the legislation, which exceeds 2,100 pages. \u201cEach of these investments on its own will make an extraordinary impact on the lives of American families,\u201d said House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky., ticking off the bill\u2019s initiatives. Noting that savings would come from higher levies on the rich and corporations, he added, \u201cIt\u2019s a helluva deal.\u201d Republicans said the legislation would damage an economy already racked by inflation, give tax breaks to some wealthy taxpayers and make government bigger and more intrusive. Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, the Budget Committee\u2019s top Republican, used alliteration from Biden\u2019s name for the measure \u2014 Build Back Better \u2014 to mock it. \u201cBankrupts the economy. Benefits the wealthy. And it builds the Washington machine,\u201d Smith said. The debate came with Democrats hoping to move toward delivering a badly needed victory for Biden. For months, the bill has been delayed by infighting between party moderates and progressives over the measure\u2019s cost and the policies it should include. Biden this week signed a $1 trillion package of highway and other infrastructure projects, which he\u2019s spent recent days promoting around the country. But he\u2019s been battered recently by falling approval numbers in polls, reflecting voters\u2019 concerns over inflation, supply chain delays and the persistent coronavirus pandemic. After months of talks, lawmakers appeared eager to wrap it up, shelving lingering differences to begin selling the package back home. House Democrats said they were planning 1,000 events across the country by year\u2019s end to pitch the measure\u2019s benefits to voters. Democrats have struggled to explain the far-reaching scope of the bill, with its health, child care and other provisions affecting millions of Americans. The internal battling has often overshadowed the actual bill, weighing down Democrats as they prepare for potentially difficult midterm elections next year. House passage of the social and environment bill would send it to the 50-50 Senate, where Democrats have zero votes to spare. Significant changes there are likely due to cost-cutting demands by moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. Senate talks could take weeks, and the prospect that Manchin or others will force additional cuts in the measure was making it easier for House moderates to back the legislation Thursday. The altered bill would have to return to the House before going to Biden\u2019s desk. Even as lawmakers debated the legislation, Democrats were set to change it before the House votes to make sure it doesn\u2019t run afoul of Senate rules. Democrats are using special rules that would let the bill pass the Senate by a simple majority, not the usual 60 votes, but such legislation must follow certain budget constraints. When moderates delayed House passage of the bill two weeks ago, they said they wanted to make sure the CBO\u2019s projections for its costs were similar to White House numbers, which showed the measure essentially paid for itself. Some differences, however, were expected between the CBO and White House estimates. A chief discrepancy was expected to be over a White House estimate that giving the IRS an additional $80 billion for stepped-up enforcement would yield $480 billion in new tax collections over a decade, a net gain of $400 billion. The CBO, using stricter estimating guidelines, was expected to envision half that amount in new revenue. The House\u2019s addition of a paid family leave program was also expected to increase the legislation\u2019s cost. That program faces objections from Manchin and seems likely to be dropped by the Senate. Some moderates have already said projections over IRS savings are always uncertain and would not cause them to oppose the measure. Others have said the measure\u2019s roughly $555 billion in tax credits and other costs to encourage cleaner energy need not be paid for in the bill because global warming is an existential crisis. Critics have said the bill\u2019s overall cost would exceed $4 trillion if Democrats hadn\u2019t made temporary some of its programs they would actually like to be permanent. For example, tax credits for children and low-earning workers, top party priorities, are extended for just one year. ___ AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.<\/p>\n