80+ Think Tanks And Organizations To Biden and Congress: Build Back Better Must Match Magnitude of Moment

Leading Think Tanks and Organizations Call for the Rapid Passage of Bolder Build Back Better Package

The American Rescue Plan addressed the immediate crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the recent announcement of the American Jobs Plan (AJP), the Biden Administration jumpstarted discussions on repairing our nation’s crumbling physical infrastructure while building worker power. But to deal with our nation’s “cascading crises,” and truly build a more inclusive society centered in racial and gender equity, we urge President Biden to propose an American Families Plan that rises to the magnitude of this moment. And we urge Congress to go bold and go fast as it passes a Build Back Better package that combines and builds upon the proposals in the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan.

Roads and bridges, clean water, elder care, and clean energy generate future income, tax revenue, and jobs through increased productivity and efficiency. Coupled with new tax measures to ensure that multinational corporations and fossil fuel companies pay their fair share of taxes, the American Jobs Plan demonstrates the Biden Administration’s commitment to confront the climate crisis, tackle economic inequality, and by reforming the tax code, strengthen our democracy.

These policies put forward by the Biden Administration are necessary but insufficient in scale and scope. The American Jobs Plan falls short of the $7 trillion President Biden proposed on the campaign trail and well short of the at least $10 trillion over 10 years (3 percent of GDP annually) suggested by many advocates and experts to meet the extent of our country’s needs. It must be scaled up.

The upcoming American Families Plan should complement the American Jobs Plan with much-needed provisions on paid leave, child care, housing, drug pricing, Medicare expansion, higher education, immigration, unemployment insurance, poverty-reducing tax credits, and taxes on the wealthy—changes that would lead to greater economic security and opportunity for everyone.

We are calling for a Build Back Better package that accomplishes all of this at a scale commensurate to our communities’ needs—that empowers all of us across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, immigration status, or ZIP code. During this period of low interest rates and low inflation, legislation of this size and scope is economically feasible and is popular across the country.

Families and communities recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic are looking to Congress and the Administration to deliver. We want results, not endless deliberation and procedural excuses. We therefore call on Congress and the Administration to act boldly and pass an ambitious, comprehensive Build Back Better package before the August recess. 

Original Signatories

Economic Policy Institute
Institute for Policy Studies
Progressive Caucus Action Fund

9to5
A Better Balance
American Family Voices
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Americans for Tax Fairness
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC)
Block Builderz
Bold ReThink
Center for International Policy
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR)
Center for Popular Democracy
Chicago Foundation for Women
Closing the Women's Wealth Gap
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
CommonDefense.US
Community Change Action
Community Health Councils
Courage California
Demos
Economic Opportunity Institute
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Equal Rights Advocates
Every Texan
Faith in Public Life
Family Values @ Work
Friends of the Earth
Green New Deal Network
Groundwork Action
Health Care Voter
Human Impact Partners
In the Public Interest
Indivisible
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Institute for Women's Policy Research
Keystone Progress
Legal Aid at Work
Liberation in a Generation
Main Street Alliance
Marked By COVID
MoveOn
National Council of Jewish Women
National Employment Law Project
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
National Women's Law Center
Native Women Lead
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Mexico Voices for Children
Our Revolution
Pacific Community Ventures
Paid Leave for All Action
Parent Voices CA
ParentsTogether Action
Partnership for Working Families
Patriotic Millionaires
People's Action
PL+US: Paid Leave for the United States
POWER-PAC IL
Public Citizen
RAISE High Road Restaurants
SEIU
Social Security Works
Sunrise Movement
Take on Wall Street
Tax March
The New York Women’s Foundation
The Women's Fund of Central Ohio
True North Research
UltraViolet
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
Voices for Progress
Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania
Women's Fund of Rhode Island
Young Invincibles