SPRINGFIELD – Congressman Richard Neal, chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, said during a press conference on April 29, he intends “to make every effort to find a path forward” not only for legislation proposed by President Joe Biden, but also for his own bill titled “Building an Economy for Families Act.”

Neal spoke the day after Biden addressed Congress about his first 100 days in office  and he called the president’s words “a healing vision.”

Neal added, “You saw the real Joe Biden” and noted there was “no malice in his voice or his talk.”

With infrastructure repair and renovation a major part of the president’s legislative package, Neal believes there is the opportunity for both parties to craft a bill. The issue, he said, is finding agreement on how the legislation would be funded.

Biden’s proposal would cost $2.3 trillion, but Neal noted it would be over a 10-year period.

Although some Democrats are speaking about how Biden’s legislation should be funded, Neal believes that is a mistake for the negotiating process.

“We have to figure out what we want and how we’re going to pay for it,” he said. Until the Democrats have done that, they shouldn’t be speaking about a revenue source.

Ending child poverty is another example of an issue that has support on both sides of the aisle, but once again Neal said, “Yes, we all agree on the problem but we don’t agree on revenue.”

Neal explained the traditional legislative process of reaching consensus through negotiation has been made much more difficult by both the rise of social media and cable TV talk shows, which he said are “focused on conflict.”

He added, “It is more difficult to get things done.”

Earlier in the week, Neal released information about his “Building an Economy for Families Act.”

“The Building an Economy for Families Act is an investment in our future that we simply cannot afford to pass up. By acting on this plan, we will rebuild our society to be better and stronger than ever before. It’s not enough to only focus on the roads that get Americans to work, we need to modernize the supports that get them through the day. This is a time of great need, and we are ready to deliver,” Neal said in a written statement.

The bill would:

• Provide universal paid family and medical leave for all U.S. workers;

• Increase funds for the Child Care Entitlement to States program;

• Establish a Child Care Information Network for parents and caregivers to access frequently updated information about available child care slots that meet their needs in their communities;

• Provide a new refundable payroll tax credit for child care providers to raise wages of essential child care workers;

• Permanently extend the American Rescue Plan’s expansions of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); and

• Create a new Worker Information Network (WIN) to assist workers in accessing paid leave, unemployment insurance benefits, and child care; and invest $15 billion in the physical infrastructure of child care facilities.

The CTC provides $3,000 ($3,600 for young children) per child, fully refundable and payable monthly.  The CDCC is fully refundable and provides up to $8,000 for qualifying child care expenses of up to $16,000; and EITC provides nearly triple the maximum credit for workers without dependents, and includes an important provision to preserve the value of the EITC in the event of income shocks.

Neal spoke with the president on the floor of the House and when asked about the topic of the conversation, Neal smiled and declined to say. He added the conversation was “good natured and in good humor.”