Still, that leaves plenty of room for senators to offer amendments, including for things like extending expiring Trump-era tax cuts, as long as they don’t go below $1 billion in committee deficit reduction. of Finance. GOP senators could offer other changes, including energy policy, to put Democrats in a tough spot ahead of this November’s midterm elections.
Otherwise, there would be room for Democrats to try to expand spending within the Treasury’s jurisdiction. They could seek to add a paid leave program, expanded child tax credits, funding for home and community-based care under Medicaid, or Medicare hearing benefits that were in previous versions — as well as tax increases to paid all.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as 11 other Senate panels received reconciliation guidance allowing them to add up to $1.75 trillion to deficits over the decade ending in fiscal 2031.
The Health, Education, Work and Pensions panel has room to add up to $726.4 billion; Democrats on that panel released a version in December that would cost $474.6 billion, with four-fifths of that for a new child care program and universal kindergarten.
Other panels received smaller instructions, such as $25 billion for the Small Business Committee. The chairman of that panel, Benjamin L. CardinD-Md., has sought financial relief for the restaurant industry for months, and reconciliation could be an attractive tool.
