Biden spending bill: No date yet for CBO score, a key demand of moderates
The Congressional Budget Office said they will start by releasing estimates of parts of the bill this week
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced Tuesday that there is currently no set timeline for when they will have a score for the Build Back Better Act, the social spending bill Democrats are trying to pass.
The CBO provides "scores" for legislation that estimate how bills would impact the budget by looking at factors such as spending, revenue and deficits. Given the sheer length of the social spending bill, the agency said they are working on a score, but it will take time.
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"Over the past several months, we have provided technical assistance to committees as they developed their proposals for various parts of the bill," CBO Director Phillip Swagel stated on the agency's website. "The analysis of the bill’s many provisions is complicated, and CBO will provide a cost estimate for the entire bill as soon as practicable."
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While these scores do not always come out before lawmakers vote on a bill, several moderate Democrats have said they are looking to see what the score will be for the social spending bill.
"In order to ensure the final bill is indeed fiscally responsible, we must first have the proper CBO/JCT scoring information before any floor consideration," said a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., from Reps. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, Jared Golden, D-Maine, Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., and Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., that was published by Politico. "Therefore, we cannot lend our support to advancing the BBB Act until we have had a chance to review these scores which provide the true cost of the legislation."
With Democrats holding a slim majority in the House, this demand from five party members could hold up a vote on the bill.
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Swagel said that while it will take time before they can release a score for the whole bill, CBO will release analyses of portions of the bill as they are ready, beginning later this week.
"When we determine a release date for the cost estimate for the entire bill, we will provide advance notice," he said.