On Thursday, July 14th, 2022, Senator Manchin (D-WV) said “unequivocally” during a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) that he will only support reducing drug prices and a two-year extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies as components of the reconciliation package. Although he insisted later during an interview that he still wanted to strike a climate and energy policy deal, Manchin’s rejection at the meeting blew up weeks of discussions over a larger legislative package. Now there is only a slim health-care-focused bill on the table for Democrats who have hoped to send far more expansive legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk before the midterms.
These two priorities that Manchin has agreed to are important policies, but such a narrow bill means that there are currently no provisions in the package to help children and families in the short term. There’s still time to tell Congress that they cannot to pass a reconciliation package that doesn’t address the economic needs of children and families. Visit our Action Center to contact your Senators today.
