House Passes Landmark Bill to Cut Costs for Working Families

Press Release

This evening, Rep. Carbajal voted to pass H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act, which will cut down on the cost of living for working families on the Central Coast and across the country while also making long overdue investments to address climate change.

"The Build Back Better Act is a huge win for Central Coast families burdened by the high cost of health care, child care, and senior care. After years of Republican tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of Americans, this bill is a long overdue tax break for the people who truly sustain and strengthen our nation: working, middle class families. Unlike the Republican tax scam, this bill is fully paid for and won't cost anyone making under $400,000 a dime," said Rep. Carbajal. "I worked hard to make sure this bill included robust measures to fight climate change and I am proud to say we delivered. The Build Back Better Act includes my bill to permanently ban offshore oil and gas leasing off the coast of California and marks the biggest investment we have ever made to tackle the climate crisis, which will create good-paying jobs on the Central Coast as we build up the renewable energy economy of the future."

The Build Back Better Act will:

Address Climate Change:

Includes Rep. Carbajal's California Clean Coast Act, which permanently bans future offshore oil and gas leasing off the coast of California.
Invests $555 billion in clean energy and climate initiatives, the most significant effort to combat climate change in American history.
Reduce the Cost of Child Care and Senior Care:

Ensures the cost of child care does not exceed 7% of a family's income.
Provides universal preschool for every child in the U.S.
Gives every American access to four weeks of paid family and medical leave.
Extends the Biden Child Tax Credit, which has benefited over 126,000 children on the Central Coast and continues to cut child poverty.
Expands access to high-quality home care for disabled and older adults.
Cut Health Care Costs:

Allows Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and halts price hikes that rise above inflation
Ensures Americans with diabetes don't pay more than $35 per month for their insulin.
Creates a new, out-of-pocket cap of $2,000 on costs for medicine under Medicare Part D.
Slashes premiums for those using Covered California by more than $800 per year.
Expands Medicare to cover affordable hearing care.
Fight Inflation: In a letter, 17 Nobel laureates in economics said that the Build Back Better agenda will "ease longer-term inflationary pressures" because it "invests in long-term economic capacity and will enhance the ability of more Americans to participate productively in the economy."

Tackle Supply Chain Issues: Provides $600 million for grants that support supply chain resilience, reductions in port congestion, development of offshore wind infrastructure, environmental remediation, and projects to reduce impacts to the environment.

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