12/13/2021 10:00 AM EST
BACK TO BUSINESS ON BUILD BACK BETTER: Congress returns this week for what lawmakers hope will be their last vote series before Christmas — but they’ve got a lot of work to do to make that happen.
Looming large: Senate consideration of President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion social spending bill, which contains many of the work-related priorities he campaigned on: paid family and medical leave, child care, pro-union provisions and more.
Democrats finished meeting last week with the Senate parliamentarian, who decides which parts of the bill are eligible for budget reconciliation under the Byrd rule. The reconciliation process, which allows passage of spending-related legislation, will enable the party to clear the package without any Republican support.
But their work is far from over. This week, bipartisan meetings with the parliamentarian begin. The Senate HELP and Finance Committees released the text of their updated portions of the spending bill on Saturday, when they provided them to Republicans and CBO. Lawmakers made only minor changes to the language the House passed, a committee aide told Shift, such as making it more clear that faith-based child care providers are eligible for funding.
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