Home > Press > Press Releases > MDCEP lauds House passage of Build Back Better Act as huge step forward to improve Marylanders’ lives

MDCEP lauds House passage of Build Back Better Act as huge step forward to improve Marylanders’ lives

Now, Senate must quickly pass the bill to deliver for people in Maryland

 The Maryland Center on Economic Policy released the following statement from President and CEO Benjamin Orr in response to the US House of Representatives passage of the Build Back Better Act:

“This is a huge step forward to increasing opportunity, reducing poverty, and shrinking racial inequities for Maryland children, families, and workers. If enacted, the Build Back Better Act will help people get health coverage; afford food, stable housing, and childcare for their children; and meet other basic needs. And the bill is fully paid for by provisions designed to make sure corporations and the wealthy pay more of their fair share in taxes. That makes this bill a great deal for Maryland families.

“We thank Majority Leader Hoyer and Reps. Brown, Mfume, Raskin, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, and Trone for voting in favor of this essential legislation, although we are disappointed that Rep. Harris voted against the bill despite the clear benefits for his constituents.

“As the Senate takes up Build Back Better, time is of the essence: If Congress fails to pass BBB by the end of the year, improvements in the Child Tax Credit – which is successfully helping tens of millions of families with kids cover the cost of raising children – will expire. Families will see their credit reduced or eliminated entirely, and payments of up to $300 per child, per month that families are using to meet basic needs will stop after December 15. With costs of everyday essentials rising, Maryland families are counting on Congress to not take away this lifeline.

“We urge Senators Cardin and Van Hollen to support the bill, which will advance racial and economic justice and improve Marylanders’ lives, and help get it quickly over the finish line. The sooner they pass the Build Back Better Act, the sooner families in our state will benefit from its important investments.”

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Highlights of benefits to Marylanders

 

Build Back Better would spur a historic reduction in child poverty and a marked decrease in child hunger.

  • The Build Back Better improvements to the Child Tax Credit will benefit 1.1 million Maryland children, or 5 out of every 6 children under 18 in the state. This expansion will lift 56,000 Maryland children above the poverty line.
    • The Child Tax Credit expansion is especially important for the 352,000 Maryland children who did not receive the full child tax credit before the American Rescue plan, three-quarters of whom are children of color.
  • The bill will help 430,000 Maryland students purchase food over the summer and expand free school meals to 55,000 additional students during the school year.

BBB would provide affordable, quality health coverage.

  • The bill will enable 34,000 uninsured Marylanders to gain health coverage.
  • The bill will reduce insurance costs for 53,300 Marylanders.

It would expand access to stable, affordable housing at a time when housing instability and homelessness are a reality for far too many in Maryland.

  • Half of all Maryland renters (about 353,000 households) spend more than 30% of their income on rent
  • About 11,000 additional Maryland households would be able to receive housing vouchers to help cover rental costs
  • The legislation also includes significant investments in improving public housing and expanding the national Housing Trust Fund to preserve more affordable, accessible homes for low-income households nationwide.

And it would strengthen families and help parents stay in the labor force by reducing the cost of child care, expanding free access to universal pre-K, and providing family and medical leave.

  • The Build Back Better bill will enable Maryland to provide access to child care for about 370,000 children ages 0-5. The plan will cover the families of 9 in 10 young children in the state and ensure they pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care.
  • The average cost of center-based child care for a toddler in Maryland is more than $12,000 per year. The lack of affordable child care options makes it difficult for parents, and especially mothers, to remain in their jobs, contributing to the 17.7% gender gap in workforce participation between mothers and fathers in Maryland.
  • The Build Back Better bill will enable Maryland to expand access to free, high-quality preschool to more than 138,156 additional 3- and 4-year-olds per year and increase the quality of preschool for children who are already enrolled. These resources will build on the progress we made through the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and will likely strengthen the state’s capacity to fully implement the Blueprint.
  • The bill would provide up to four weeks of paid family and medical leave, which would provide a strong baseline for Maryland to move forward with a more expansive state paid family and medical leave plan, as proposed in the Time to Care Act.