CBO issues score on how much Build Back Better would cost if programs were permanent

By Lauren Fox and Manu Raju, CNN

The Congressional Budget Office has released a revised score on the Democrats’ social safety net plan based on a Republican request to see how much the bill would cost if a series of provisions — including the child tax credit expansion — were extended for the full 10 years.

The CBO estimates that the version of the legislation without sunsets would “increase the deficit by $3 trillion over 2022 to 2031.” The current bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, does not include such extensions to the provisions.

The analysis released Friday notes it does not include how much the CBO believes would be raised from tax enforcement mechanisms. It’s longstanding policy the CBO does not include that kind of estimate here.

The latest CBO score is a Republican-led effort to show that the bill costs more than Democrats say it does, but Democrats are arguing that many provisions in their proposal sunset and therefore the true cost is not what Republicans say it is.

This analysis could be important to a key moderate Democratic member, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has long been concerned that many programs in the Democratic bill may end up being extended or even become permanent.

Not long after the analysis posted, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released statements responding to it, saying this is a “fake” CBO report because, they argue, any extensions of the programs would be “fully offset.”

“Republicans did not include this important fact in their request,” Schumer said in a written statement.

The-CNN-Wire
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