The president, in a statement delivered in person in the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting, said that the group understands "what it means to solve real problems" and praised a number of senior administration officials with past mayoral experience, including Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
"We've got so much we can do with this legislation now," Biden stated, before outlining how his proposal would direct money toward climate programs, education expansion, and more. "We still face tremendous challenges though, but together, we've proven that we can get big things done in this country."
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"We're falling further and further behind the curve, but we can fix that problem. We can do this and more on healthcare, nutrition, a host of other issues, and folks, here's the point: We can do it without increasing inflation or the deficit," the president said. "It's entirely paid for, every single penny, and not a single person making less than $400,000 a year will pay a single additional penny in federal taxes. Not a single penny."
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Biden closed by saying the administration "can tackle all these challenges, just like we did with the [American Rescue Plan], the infrastructure law, and the fight against COVID, but we can't do it without you."
"You know, when it comes down to whether the garbage gets collected or someone is safe in the streets, this isn't partisan. It's practical. You understand the cost," he added. "We need the voice of mayors telling the stories of what their community needs and the impact we're making on people's lives or not."
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Biden's spending bill was hindered late last year after the centrist West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced his disavowal, effectively killing the legislation in its current form.
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The president and Democratic leaders have now pivoted to trying to recover programs from the $2 trillion legislation they might pass. The White House said Friday that it expected to use reconciliation to pass even a shrunken Build Back Better on a partisan basis.
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Manchin told CNN that Democrats will be starting with a "clean sheet of paper" and did not identify how much he would like the new bill to cost.
As he'd done in the past, Manchin identified historically high rates of inflation as key to his opposition, but hit an encouraging tone, saying once inflation declines and the Covid pandemic wanes "then we'll be rolling."
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Manchin also confirmed he's pulled a $1.8 trillion counteroffer he reportedly sent the White House last month, which notably did not include expanding the child tax credit—a cornerstone of the bill supported by Biden and Democratic leadership.
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