Bottom line: The package will make life more affordable for middle-class workers and their families – paid for by ensuring the wealthiest pay their fair share.

After announcing the Build Back Better framework last week, President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are hard at work to get the transformational package across the finish line. 

The historic investments in child care, home care, climate change mitigation, affordable housing, education, and health care will bring down costs, rebuild the backbone of our country, and create an economy where everyone has a fair shot.

This transformational package will deliver for North Carolina by: 

• Providing access to affordable child care: In North Carolina, the average annual cost of a child care center for a toddler is $8,746. The Build Back Better framework would enable North Carolina to provide access to child care for  629,956 young children and ensure these families pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care.

• Funding universal, high-quality, free preschool: Right now, only 30% of the 221,080 North Carolina 3- and 4-year-olds have access to publicly-funded preschool, and it costs about $8,600 per year for those who can’t access a publicly-funded program. The Build Back Better framework will allow North Carolina to expand access to free, high-quality preschool to more than 154,103 children.

• Making the largest effort to combat climate change in American history: In the last decade, North Carolina has experienced 42 extreme weather events, costing the state upwards of $50 billion. The Build Back Better framework will set the United States on course to meet its climate targets while creating good-paying union jobs, growing domestic industries, and advancing environmental justice.

• Reducing housing costs and expanding housing options: Today, 632,000 renters in North Carolina are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent, while homeownership remains out of reach for many families. The Build Back Better framework will expand rental assistance for North Carolina renters, while also increasing the supply of high-quality housing through the construction and rehabilitation of over 1 million affordable housing units nationwide.

• Expanding health care coverage and lowering costs: The Build Back Better framework will close the Medicaid coverage gap to help millions gain coverage, extend the American Rescue Plan’s health insurance premium reductions, and help older North Carolinians access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare. In North Carolina, that means 388,000 uninsured people will gain coverage, including the 212,000 who fell into the Medicaid coverage gap, and 229,100 will on average save hundreds of dollars per year.

• Supporting families with long-term care needs: The Build Back Better framework will expand access to home- and community-based care to more of North Carolina’s senior citizens and disabled citizens, and improve the quality and wages of caregiving jobs.

• Cutting taxes for workers and families: Prior to the pandemic, 15% of North Carolina children lived in poverty. The Build Back Better framework will reduce taxes on the middle class and those striving to break into it by extending the Child Tax Credit (CTC) increase of $250-300 per month and establishing permanent refundability, meaning that the neediest families will continue to receive the full CTC. The framework will also provide a tax cut of up to $1,500 for 593,900 low-wage workers in North Carolina by extending the American Rescue Plan’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansion.

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