Congressman Troy Carter Votes to Support Working Families, Lower Costs for Americans by Passing Biden’s Transformative Build Back Better Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter Sr. stood with the American people and voted to pass President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act out of the U.S. House of Representatives. This package provides $1.75 trillion to uplift working families, lower everyday costs, cut taxes, fight the climate crisis, and create good-paying jobs. The programs in the Build Back Better Act are fully paid for, and a full analysis conducted by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office prior to House passage showed that this legislation even reduces the deficit by more than $100 billion over the first ten years.

“President Biden’s Build Back Better Act will reshape the American story for the better,” said Congressman Carter. “This bill aligns our nation’s budget with our values, finally investing in the well-being of working families and in solutions to the big issues America faces today. From affordable health care, to childcare, to housing, to tackling the climate crisis, each one of these dozens of policies individually is historic. Together, they are life-changing.”

A summary of the current version of the bill was published by the House Rules Committee here. A White House analysis estimated some Louisiana-specific benefits here, including:

• The Build Back Better Act will enable Louisiana to provide access to child care for about 300,000 young children (ages 0-5) per year from families earning under 2.5 times the state median income (about $198,667 for a family of 4), and ensure these families pay no more than 7% of their income on high-quality child care. The plan will cover the families of 9 in 10 young children in the state.
• Only about 43% of the 3- and 4-year-olds in Louisiana have access to publicly-funded preschool, and it costs about $8,600 per year for those who can’t access a publicly-funded program. Build Back Better will enable Louisiana to expand access to free, high-quality preschool to more than 54,505 additional 3- and 4-year-olds per year and increase the quality of preschool for children who are already enrolled.
• To help unlock the opportunities of continuing education beyond high school, Build Back Better will increase maximum Pell Grant awards by $550 for students at public and private non-profit institutions, supporting the 88,062 students in Louisiana who rely on Pell.
• The Build Back Better Act will ensure that the nutritional needs of Louisiana’s children are met by expanding access to free school meals to an additional 51,000 students during the school year and providing 599,955 students with resources.

“I am proud that House Democrats debated, compromised and worked together to ultimately support this bill,” continued Congressman Carter. “Passage of Build Back Better less than two weeks after the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act shows that Democrats continue to deliver results for the American people. Lowering costs, cheaper insulin, and universal preschool shouldn’t be partisan, but House Republicans all decided to put politics over people.”

“It has been a tough time recently for Louisiana and the entire country. However, with Build Back Better on the horizon, I’m confident that there are brighter days ahead. Now, the Senate must finish the job and act swiftly to pass this critical legislation.”

Congressman Carter delivered a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives ahead of the chamber’s vote and released a video statement following the bill’s passage.

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