This new Biden plan can improve health insurance, guarantee school meals, and even give citizenship to migrants

The leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, announced late Tuesday an agreement in his party to carry out a gigantic package of economic and social measures of 3.5 trillion dollars that, "if approved, would be the change deepest that has been done in generations to help American families. "

The plan can go ahead without Republican support through a legislative formula known as reconciliation, which allows a bill to be passed with a simple majority (just the one that Democrats have in the Senate), since the conservatives block progressive policies it would prevent a broader agreement from being reached.

However, the Democrats will have to negotiate the support of all their senators (50, compared to 50 Republicans), since a single defection would be enough to fail the measure (in case of a tie, the vote of the vice president, Kamala Harris, tilts the balance). 

This reconciliation process can only be used twice in the legislature, and this would be the last, making this package possibly the only opportunity to pass ambitious measures blocked by the Republicans, and among them, perhaps, an immigration reform that opens a path to citizenship for dreamers and farm workers.

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Immigration

: Democratic congressmen could find in this bill the way for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to obtain citizenship.

Immigrants with temporary protected status and farm workers could also become Americans.

Both Schumer and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi, have expressed their will that this great budget plan include immigration aspects, a position supported by Biden.

But Democrats are still waiting for a legal ruling that will clarify whether they can include those measures within this legislative package. 

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More Medicare

: Democrats want to extend health coverage in the dozen states that continue to refuse to expand state health insurance known as Obamacare.

One of the goals is for older citizens to have dental, hearing and vision insurance. 

The Hispanic, Black and Asian caucuses are pushing to include this point, basic for the population with fewer economic resources, but the conversations are expected to be long due to its high cost.

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Free School Meals for All

: Progressives want all public school students to receive free breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner, regardless of their family income. 

During the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Agriculture lowered the requirements for schools to offer free meals.

The president, Joe Biden, ordered that that scale be maintained until June 2022, but a Democratic sector wants it to be permanent.

It has the support of the School Nutrition Association and the National Education Association, the largest union of teachers in the country.

Republicans, however, consider it too expensive.

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cheaper Prescription drugs

: reduce the price of prescription drugs is a common goal of Democrats, but still have not agreed how.

Progressives in the House of Representatives have backed a plan for Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies.

But one sector of the party believes that this would impede the development of new drugs.

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Education

: The president announced a few days ago in Illinois his intention to expand public education to kindergarten, as well as that the first two years of public university are free.

Democratic congressmen must now find the formula to fit the president's plans and calculate the total cost of this initiative.

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Climate change

: There is pressure to include more money for environmentally friendly agricultural practices, including conservation programs.

The Biden infrastructure project, which this legislative package would accompany, already provides $ 1 billion over five years to help the agricultural industry reach the goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions.

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Tax exemptions

: The infrastructure plan (which does have the support of both congressmen of both parties) includes tax deductions for children and income, and exemptions for daycare expenses. 

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But Democrats are expected to introduce a new tax advantage for renewables, bonds known as Build America (federal grants that lower the cost of state and local loans for infrastructure projects);

and an expanded tax credit that encourages investment in low-income areas, and affordable housing tax subsidies.

With information from Politico