No Score, No Vote

For Immediate Release

The House apparently intends to vote on the latest version of the Build Back Better Act as soon as this week, despite that fact that the legislation has not yet been scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has long opposed efforts to enact legislation, outside of an emergency, without a comprehensive score. As we said in September, the House should not vote on the Build Back Better Act without a full CBO score.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

How can Congress even consider passing such a massive bill without knowing its cost?

Without an independent score, how will we know whether the House Build Back Better Act matches the President’s framework. Does it really cost $1.75 trillion as claimed? And is it fully paid for, as promised?

The original version of the Build Back Better Act developed by the House likely cost $1 trillion over its $3.5 trillion target, and we never saw an official CBO score.                       

The public deserves to know how much Congress plans to tax, borrow, and spend before the House takes a vote.

Congress should delay consideration of reconciliation until they actually know what it costs. No score, no vote.

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For more information, please contact Kim McIntyre, Director of Media Relations, at mcintyre@crfb.org.