By Rich Larson, KYMN Radio — Oct 18, 2021
Congresswoman Angie Craig visited Northfield on Saturday morning looking to build support for the Federal Build Back Better Bill.
As written, the budget reconciliation bill would spend $3.5 trillion dollars over the next ten years on a host of different programs including childcare, education, clean energy, and Medicare. It would seek to cut the prices of prescription drugs, raise taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, and offer two years of free community college for all students.
Craig visited Imminent Brewing, Content Book Store, The Sketchy Artist and Farmstead Bike Shop.
Derek Meyers, who along with his wife Laura, owns Imminent Brewing spoke to Craig about how helpful the Payment Protection Plan loans were during the pandemic, but also asked about some irregularities in the Employee Retention Tax Credit.
Another issue Craig has been involved with is Paid Family Leave. Content owner Jessica Peterson-White discussed her experience having a baby just prior to the onset of the pandemic and balancing the need to be a mother in the earliest days of her daughter’s life with saving her business in a time of economic crisis. Paid family leave, she said, would have allowed her to hire someone to take some of the burden off of her as a business owner to give more time to her newborn child.
Congresswoman Craig said pushing the bill through the senate will be a challenge. She acknowledged that the bill as it is written will most likely be trimmed by as much as $1.5 trillion in order to appease moderate and conservative Democratic senators. But she said it is important to “level the playing field” so small businesses are not at as much of a disadvantage, and she believes this bill will do that in any form.