Free pre-K, child tax credit and paid leave: A look at Biden’s American Families Plan
President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced his sweeping $1.8 trillion American Families Plan.
The proposal, which Biden is expected to further detail during a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening, comes about a month after he unveiled his $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
Biden’s latest proposal — which includes broad investments in education, families with children, and workers, among other things — would require approval in Congress, where it’s likely to be met with some resistance.
It’s unclear whether Congress will consider the infrastructure and families plans together or separately, CNN reports, but some Republicans and moderate Democrats have shown opposition to the size of the proposals and at Biden’s proposed tax increases.
Here’s a look at some of what’s included in the American Families Plan.
Universal preschool
Biden’s proposal calls for a partnership with states to provide free pre-K to all children ages 3 and 4 and to ensure publicly funded pre-K programs have “low student-to-teacher ratios, high-quality and developmentally appropriate curriculum, and supportive classroom environments that are inclusive for all students.”
The White House estimates the proposal would affect 5 million children and save the average family $13,000.
“This historic $200 billion investment in America’s future will prioritize high-need areas and enable communities and families to choose the settings that work best for them,” the White House says.
Free community college
The American Families Plan includes $109 billion toward free community college.
It would offer two years of free community college to all Americans, including people who were brought to the United States as children and are undocumented, often referred to as “Dreamers.”
Students could use the benefit over three or four years, the White House says, in circumstances where “full-time enrollment is difficult.”
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center estimates about 4.9 million students were enrolled in community colleges in spring 2020, and the White House says that “if all states, territories, and Tribes participate” in the proposal, roughly 5.5 million students would pay nothing in tuition or fees.
The proposal also includes two years of subsidized tuition at historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.
Pell Grant expansion
Biden’s proposal would increase Pell Grants by roughly $1,400 and expand access to the financial aid to Dreamers.
Pell Grants are usually given to undergraduate students who show “exceptional financial need.” During the 2019-2020 academic year, roughly 6.7 million students received Pell Grants, according to Statista.
“Among students of color, nearly 60 percent of Black, half of American Indian or Alaska Native, almost half of Latino, and over one-third of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students rely on Pell Grants to pay for college,” the White House says.
But the grants cover a “shrinking share” of college costs, according to the Center on Budget and Policy priorities.
Child tax credit expansion
The plan would extend the child tax credit increases included in the American Rescue Plan — the law that also sent $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans — through 2025 and would make the credit “permanently fully refundable.”
The American Rescue Plan provides many families with $3,600 per child under age 6 and $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17 in tax benefits over the course of a year, a boost from the previous up to $2,000 per child under age 17.
Single parents making up to $75,000 a year and couples making up to $150,000 a year are eligible for the full benefit under the American Rescue Plan. The White House says the expansion “benefited nearly 66 million children.”
Summer nutrition benefits
The proposal would put more than $25 million toward making the Summer Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer, or P-EBT, program permanent and “available to all 29 million children receiving free and reduced-price meals.”
The program, funded by the American Rescue Plan, expands P-EBT benefits through the summer to all children who are eligible to receive free or reduced meals during the school year and children under age 6 who live in a household that receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
P-EBT provides eligible school children with “temporary emergency nutrition benefits” through EBT cards that can be used to buy food.
“Research shows that this program decreases food insecurity among children and has led to positive changes in nutritional outcomes,” the White House says.
Paid leave
The plan would create a national paid family and medical leave program.
“The program will ensure workers receive partial wage replacement to take time to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, deal with a loved one’s military deployment, find safety from sexual assault, stalking, or domestic violence, heal from their own serious illness, or take time to deal with the death of a loved one,” the White House says.
It would guarantee 12 weeks of paid parental, family and “personal illness/safe leave” in 10 years and guarantee three days of bereavement leave per year in the program’s first year.
“The program will provide workers up to $4,000 a month, with a minimum of two-thirds of average weekly wages replaced, rising to 80 percent for the lowest wage workers,” the White House says. “We estimate this program will cost $225 billion over a decade.”
Increasing the top tax rate
The proposal would boost the top income tax rate to 39.6%
The current tax rate for individuals making $518,401 or more a year and joint filers making $622,051 or more is 37%. In 2017, under former President Donald Trump, it was cut from 39.6%
“The president’s plan restores the top tax bracket to what it was before the 2017 law, returning the rate to 39.6 percent, applying only to those within the top one percent,” the White House says.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Free pre-K, child tax credit and paid leave: A look at Biden’s American Families Plan."
