The Biden administration on Monday unveiled the president’s proposed budget for 2023, with a total of more than $ 5.7 trillion in spending and which includes a new tax on billionaires as the president seeks to reduce the deficit in the future. In it, President Biden outlines his priorities for next year, which could be crucial in the run-up to the midterm elections. This is the first step in the long budget process and comes just weeks after Congress passed the omnibus spending bill for the remainder of 2022.
In a statement, Biden said his budget sends a “clear message that we value fiscal responsibility, security and safety at home and around the world, and the investments needed to continue our equitable growth and build a better America.” .
Last year, the economy grew by a record 5.7%, as the United States added more than 6.5 million jobs as the United States emerged from the coronavirus pandemic. But the country has been hit by the fastest inflation in 40 years, with prices 7.9% higher than a year ago, and the national debt exceeded $ 30 trillion for the first time in history this year. .
In the budget proposal, the Biden administration calls for new spending that it says will stimulate economic growth and create jobs while calling for a series of tax reforms. Overall, the Biden administration predicts that its budget will reduce the deficit by more than $ 1 trillion over the next decade.
As part of its effort to reduce the deficit, the administration is proposing a tax on the minimum income of billionaires, which would require households with more than $ 100 million to pay 20% of their total annual income. The administration claims that this alone would reduce the deficit by $ 360 billion over a decade.
As talks with Congress continue on Mr. Biden Building in Better America, which includes priorities once they are part of the Build Back Better Act such as affordable child carefighting climate change and reducing health care costs, the administration is proposing fiscal reforms to pay for these priorities, feeding a reserve fund so that paying for this legislation does not add to the deficit.
“We have made it clear that the president wants to sign legislation that reduces costs for families and reduces the deficit,” said Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The Biden administration predicts that the deficit will be $ 1.3 trillion lower in 2022 than last year: the biggest one-year fall in U.S. history as a result of massive spending to combat the Coronavirus pandemic and economic consequences.
Some of the proposed new spending would go to efforts to reduce crime, such as $ 3.2 billion in discretionary resources for state and local law enforcement grants and $ 30 billion in mandatory support for law enforcement. law enforcement, crime prevention and community policing.
The Biden administration is also focusing on efforts to address affordable housing with a $ 50 billion proposal for the construction and supply of affordable housing to address existing market gaps and help stabilize the housing market. long-term housing.
How the US continues to face supply chain bottlenecks which have helped raise costs across the country, the president also seeks to speed up the movement of goods through ports with $ 230 million for port development and $ 1.7 billion for the port maintenance trust fund. Biden is also seeking an additional $ 125 million to help strengthen domestic manufacturing. There is also $ 200 million for new solar manufacturing.
Meanwhile, while the United States and its allies are concentrating on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the proposed budget also includes $ 6.9 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative, NATO and other efforts to counter the Russian aggression. The budget also calls for nearly $ 1 billion for the State Department, USAID and the Department of Defense to help Ukraine.
While the president’s proposal to tackle climate change stalled on the Build Back Better Act, the budget calls for multiple provisions to combat climate change, such as $ 3.3 billion for green energy projects, $ 18 billion $ 1 billion in climate resilience programs across the federal government and $ 11 billion in international climate finance, among other efforts.
Efforts to pass the president’s budget will face challenges in Congress, where the Senate is split 50-50 and Democrats hold only a slight majority in the House.
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