Manchin proposes dramatically scaled down version of Build Back Better
By Alexander Bolton - 03/02/22 03:05 PM EST
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who torpedoed President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda at the end of last year, on Wednesday laid out a dramatically scaled down version that he says he could vote for under the special budget reconciliation process.
Manchin said he could support a reconciliation package that reforms the tax code and lowers the cost of prescription drugs if the money raised is split between spending on new climate change proposals and deficit reduction and fighting inflation.
The West Virginia senator clarified he hasn’t made any formal counterproposal to the White House but is sketching the outlines of a proposal that he could support along with the rest of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Whatever Manchin ultimately agrees to would have a different name than the Build Back Better Act, which he said in December he couldn't support.
“There’s not a proposal, there’s just a conversation,” he said of informal talks with White House officials.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/596580-manchin-proposes-dramatically-scaled-down-version-of-build-back-better
