Congresswoman Manning Votes to Pass the Historic Build Back Better Act

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Kathy Manning (NC-06) voted in favor of the Build Back Better Act. The Build Back Better Act meets the urgent needs of North Carolinians by creating jobs, lowering costs, and cutting taxes for the middle class. Next, the bill will be considered by the U.S. Senate. 

“Since coming to Congress in January, I’ve championed efforts to lower costs for families, boost economic development, and improve education opportunities for all ages. The Build Back Better Act does just that,” said Congresswoman Manning. “I’m proud to support this historic legislation that gives hardworking middle- and working-class families one of the largest tax cuts in history, lowers the cost of prescription medication, closes the Medicaid coverage gap, increases Pell Grants, invests in workforce training and universal pre-k, cuts the cost of child care, and creates thousands of good-paying jobs.”
 

Led by the Biden Administration and the Democrats in Congress, the Build Back Better Act makes once-in-a-century investments that lower the cost of child care, combat the climate crisis, invest in workforce training programs, and bring down the cost of health care. Details on how this will benefit nearly every North Carolina family, as outlined in the newly released White House fact sheet, are listed below:

• Lower the cost of prescription drugs: The exorbitant cost of prescription drugs forces many Americans to ration or even decline life-saving medications. The Build Back Better Act allows the government to negotiate prescription drug prices in Medicare, protecting American workers and businesses from price-gouging. More specifically, the Build Back Better Act caps cost-sharing for insulin at $35 per month and requires pharmacy benefit managers (PBS) to provide transparency regarding drug costs in private health plans, rebates, fees, and other compensation charged by PBMs.

• Health care: By closing the Medicaid coverage gap, expanding Medicare to include hearing care, and extending relief for insurance purchased through the ACA, the Build Back Better Act helps 388,000 North Carolinians gain coverage and 229,200 North Carolina families save hundreds on health costs each year – while also making home health care for elderly parents or loved ones with disabilities more affordable and accessible.
   
• Early education: Only 30% of 3 and 4 year-olds in North Carolina have access to publicly funded pre-K, while the average cost of private pre-K in the state is $8,600. The Build Back Better Act expands access to free, high-quality pre-K to more than 154,103 additional 3 and 4 year-olds per year and increases the quality of preschool for those already enrolled– setting these children up for lifelong success and saving their parents thousands of dollars.

• Higher education: The average cost of a 2-year degree in North Carolina is $2,484 per year and $7,389 per year for a 4-year degree. The Build Back Better Act makes education beyond high school more affordable and accessible for North Carolinians by increasing the maximum Pell Grant awards by $550 for students at public and private non-profit institutions. This will support the 175,289 students in North Carolina who rely on Pell Grants to continue their education. Moreover, the Build Back Better Act invests in North Carolina’s 29 minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). North Carolina’s Sixth District is home to three HBCUs and one MSI.

• Workforce training and development: The Build Back Better Act invests in training programs that will prepare North Carolina’s workers for high-quality jobs in fast-growing sectors like public health, child care, manufacturing, IT, and clean energy. 59 public community colleges in North Carolina will have the opportunity to benefit from grants to develop and deliver innovative training programs and expand proven ones.

• Lower taxes: Before Democrats secured the expanded Biden Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan, 15% percent of North Carolina children lived in poverty.  The Build Back Better Act extends this life-changing tax cut and continues our historic progress toward reducing child poverty. This will continue one of the largest one-year reductions in child poverty in history.

• Climate impacts: North Carolina has experienced 42 extreme weather events over the last decade, which has cost North Carolina families more than $50 billion in damages. By reducing carbon pollution, bolstering community resilience, and strengthening the American clean energy economy, the Build Back Better Act creates good-paying union jobs, advance environmental justice, and save North Carolina families the steep costs of recovery.

• Child care: The average family with two children in North Carolina spends 21% of their income on child care per year. The Build Back Better Act expands access for 629,956young North Carolinians and ensures that no North Carolina family spends more than 7% of their income on child care.
   
• Paid family leave: Currently, there is no national standard for paid family leave, resulting in many parents having to choose between remaining in the workforce or taking care of their children. The Build Back Better Act creates a paid family leave benefit provided by the federal government for parents whose employers do not already offer paid family leave. This will give new parents four weeks of paid family leave.

• The Build Back Better framework also makes generational investments in affordable housing, nutrition assistance, and more.

Read the full text of the bill here.

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