Biden to unveil 1.8-trln-USD spending plan on childcare, education

Photo taken in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, on March 25, 2021 shows a screen displaying U.S. President Joe Biden speaking during a press conference in Washington, D.C., in a live stream provided by Fox News. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The proposal would include about 1 trillion U.S. dollars in investments and 800 billion dollars in tax credits over a decade, and will be fully paid for over 15 years in part by increased tax for wealthiest Americans, according to the White House.

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden is set to unveil a 1.8-trillion-U.S.-dollar spending plan focusing on childcare and education later Wednesday, just a few weeks after proposing a 2-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan.

Biden will pitch the new spending plan before a joint session of Congress Wednesday night, as he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency.

The proposal would include about 1 trillion dollars in investments and 800 billion dollars in tax credits over a decade, and will be fully paid for over 15 years in part by increased tax for wealthiest Americans, according to a fact sheet released by the White House Wednesday morning.

Biden's plan includes 200 billion dollars for free universal pre-school for all three- and four-year-olds, 109 billion dollars for two years of free community college, 225 billion dollars toward high-quality, affordable child care, 225 billion dollars to create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program, among other measures.

The plan would also extend tax cuts in the 1.9-trillion-dollar COVID-19 relief plan approved in March, including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, as well as expanded health insurance tax credits.

To offset the cost, Biden called for revitalizing enforcement to "make the wealthy pay what they owe," increase the top tax rate on the wealthiest Americans back to 39.6 percent, and end capital income tax breaks and other loopholes "for the very top."

The president's tax agenda, meanwhile, "will not only reverse the biggest 2017 tax law giveaways, but reform the tax code so that the wealthy have to play by the same rules as everyone else," said the White House.

Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, told Xinhua that Biden is potentially "the most significant president" since Franklin D. Roosevelt if Congress can pass his legislation. "That's a big 'IF,'" he said. "However, the ball is now in Congress' court and this doesn't look promising."