FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2021
Contact: Juan Ramiro Sarmiento
(785) 760-6567 | JuanRamiro.sarmiento@younginvincibles.org

Build Back Better Act on the Edge of History

Record Investments in Social Safety Net and Health Care

(Washington, DC) – Today, President Joe Biden – after weeks of negotiations and compromise – announced a legislative framework for the $1.75 Trillion Build Back Better Act. The legislation comes amid a ballooning climate crisis, an ongoing global pandemic, and an economic downturn.

In response, Kristin McGuire, Executive Director for Young Invincibles issued the following statement:

“The Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Act represents one of the most significant and substantial investments for the American people. Not since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ‘Great Society’ has the federal government invested so heavily in strengthening the social safety net. Many of the provisions included in the Build Back Better Act will be nothing short of life-changing for young people.

We commend the administration for its steadfast commitment to families, students, and older Americans by including major investments across several areas, including:

– Health care in the form of billions of subsidies to reduce premiums
– Coverage expansion for 2 million people in states that refused to expand Medicaid
– Expanding Pell grant eligibility to include DREAMers
– Historic investments in HBCUs, TCUs, and other MSIs
– Extension of the Child Tax Credit for parents through 2022
– Universal Pre-K for three and four-year-olds
– Investments in Child Care for American families

We are encouraged by the framework’s emphasis on supporting historically marginalized young people in higher education and the institutions that serve them. Investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), will begin to correct decades of underinvestment in these critical sectors of higher education. The expansion of Pell eligibility to DREAMers and funding for retention and completion initiatives signal a commitment to lessening the financial burden of pursuing higher education for Black, Latinx, and immigrant students. We hope to see Congress and the White House build further upon these provisions of the framework in the future.

While we celebrate the major provisions of this bill, we also acknowledge that more must be done to end the cycle of rising costs associated with higher education. Young people represent the future of our nation, and their needs saw the greatest share of investment deferment, including the exclusion of free community college education and student loan debt cancellation.

This proposed framework could be a major win for young people and we will continue to fight for it to become law.”

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