Dear Friends,

Today, the House of Representatives voted to pass the historic Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376).

This could not have been possible without the perseverance of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. While the final version of this bill may not be the exact legislation we originally pushed for, there is no denying the provisions in this bill will be life-changing for hardworking families in California’s 34th Congressional district and across the country.

Included in the Build Back Better Act are several bills and provisions I championed, such as:

• Establishing the first-ever national universal paid family leave program;

• Enhancing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit by creating a direct incentive for the development of affordable housing to serve extremely low income households though the Affordable Housing Equity Act (H.R. 5219);

• Creating a first-of-its-kind tax credit to expand access to electric vehicles through the Affordable EVs for Working Families Act (H.R. 4817);

• Increasing incentives to make homes more efficient, help lower consumers’ energy bills, and reduce carbon emissions while simultaneously creating jobs through the Home Energy Savings Act (H.R. 5187) and the New Home Energy Efficiency Act (H.R. 5188);

• Providing dedicated funds to strengthen pathways to health careers within tribal communities through the Tribal Healthcare Careers Act (H.R. 4316);

• Restoring Child Tax Credit (CTC) eligibility for immigrant children.

Read my full press release here.

• Universal & Free Preschool for All 3- and 4-year-olds: Expand access to free preschool for more than 6 million children per year.

• Affordable, High-Quality Child Care: Ensure families pay no more than 7% of their income on child care, expanding access to about 20 million children. 

• Affordable, High-Quality Care for Older Americans and People with Disabilities: Improve Medicaid coverage for home care services for seniors and people with disabilities and improve working conditions for home care workers.

• Expanded Child Tax Credit: Provide monthly payments of up to $300/child for 35 million American households, extended through an additional year.

• Paid Family & Medical Leave: Establishes a universal and permanent paid family and medical leave program, providing four weeks of paid parental, family caregiving, and medical leave.

• Education Beyond High School and Workforce Development: Cuts the cost of postsecondary education, with steps like increasing the maximum Pell Grant.

• Invest in Affordable Housing: Reduces families’ housing costs and expands housing options, with a major housing initiative toward building and improving more than 1 million affordable rental and single-family homes, including public housing, plus rental and down payment assistance.

• Combat Climate Change: Build Back Better is the largest effort to combat climate change in American history, investing $555 billion over 10 years in clean energy and climate investments.

• Clean Energy Tax Credits: Green tax credits will save the average American family hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs.

• Investments and Incentives for Clean Energy Technology, Manufacturing, and Supply Chains: Ensures clean energy technology – from wind turbine blades to solar panels to electric cars – will be built in the United States, creating hundreds of thousands of good jobs here at home.

• Affordable Care Act Premium Tax Credits: Expand the ACA to make coverage more affordable for those who buy insurance on their own. Dramatically lowers premiums in the ACA Marketplace, with individuals seeing a reduction in their premiums of more than $800 per year.

• Close the Medicaid Coverage Gap: Deliver health coverage to 4 million uninsured people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid through.

• Allow Medicare to Cover the Cost of Hearing: Establish a hearing benefit in Medicare, a crucial benefit to our seniors for a reasonable cost. 

• Negotiating Drug Costs: Negotiate lower drug costs for seniors and halting Big Pharma’s outrageous price hikes above inflation for all Americans. Creates a new, out-of-pocket cap of $2,000 on what seniors pay for their drugs in Medicare Part D.

• Insulin Pricing: Ensure Americans with diabetes don’t pay more than $35 per month for their insulin.

And remember: The Build Back Better Act is paid for by making big corporations & the wealthiest pay their fair share.

No one making under $400,000 will pay a penny more in taxes.

I'll make sure to keep you updated as progress continues on this historic legislation. And as always, if you need help finding local resources or assistance or in dealing with a federal agency, please contact my office at (213) 481-1425.

Sincerely,