US President Biden unveils revamped $1.75 tln social spending plan ahead of Europe trip

United States President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a revamped "historic investment" of $1.75 trillion on a social spending bill just ahead of his Europe trip. The bill is said to have the support of 50 Democrats in the Senate, BBC reported quoting the White House, adding that the administration is confident that the bill could also be passed by the House. During the announcement of the bill in parts earlier on Thursday, Biden also acknowledged the struggle to reach consensus on a pair of "landmark bills."

The Build Back Better Act was proposed a day before President Biden and the first lady Jill Biden embarked upon a journey to Europe to attend two major summits in a row- G20 in Rome, Italy, and COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. As per BBC, the bill is a revised and reduced version of the $3.5 trillion social spending bill unveiled at the beginning of the year. Take a look at the announcements:

Social spending package under Build Back Better framework

As per the revamped bill, the $1.75 trillion investment is broken down into three major divisions among others.

1. For fighting climate change, mainly through tax incentives for low-emissions and renewable energy, Biden has stipulated $555 billion
2. For free and universal pre-school for ages three to four years olds, another $400 billion has been separated
3. Another $150 billion has been kept for one million affordable housing units

President Biden has promised to pay for the bills without adding to the deficit and has proposed to balance the umbrella cost with an estimated $2 trillion revenue increase by implementing a 15% tax on reported profits on large firms. If the bill is passed, the government plans to impose an additional 5% and 3% tax on incomes above $10 million and $25 million a year respectively. Stricter measures on tax evasion by rich and large corporations will also be implemented.

President Biden, however, is yet to persuade the progressives in the House, explaining to them that the refreshed bill is close enough to the previous one. Additionally, he also has to convince the progressives in the House of Representatives to sanction the separate $1 trillion infrastructure bill, that is already passed in the Senate, BBC reported. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is expected to hold a vote on the infrastructure bill once the progressives agree to it.

(Image: AP)