Democratic Leadership in the House started last week with a goal of passing the BBBA and the bipartisan infrastructure bill by the weekend. They ended the week with the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed but a vote on the larger Build Back Better Act is on hold until this week or later.
The initial regular infrastructure bipartisan bill will be signed into law this coming week, which is a good thing. This initial infrastructure bill does little to transition to U.S. to carbon free energy sources and doesn’t do anything for the human infrastructure pieces like making childcare more affordable etc.
I’ll keep my eye out for critical control points this week so we can do what we can to keep up the pressure to seal the deal on the Build Back Better Act. In short, the initial bipartisan infrastructure package that will be signed this coming week is not a climate bill! We need the BBBA bill to pass, which does have several important climate change provisions built into it.
We need to reach priority members of congress this week like Senator Sinema and Kelly to shore up support for the Build Back Better Act. I’ve had conversations with their office staff in the last couple of weeks about climate and prescription drugs.
If any of you have relationships with the staff, I urge you to make appointments and make your voice known- and make sure to mention that you are a member of AzPHA. Here’s a toolkit to reach moderate members.
Climate Change Talking Points to help you:
- To fight the climate crisis, create millions of new good-paying clean energy jobs, and build the foundation of an equitable and thriving clean energy future: we need the Build Back Better Act.
- The bipartisan infrastructure bill that just passed makes no meaningful reductions in carbon emissions, and commitments on other key environmental justice and climate issues.
- Key parts of the bipartisan infrastructure bill (like electric vehicle charging stations, power infrastructure, and climate resilience) can only be unlocked if passed with the complementary, transformative climate investments in BBBA.
- Climate action is the only fiscally responsible choice. Climate-fueled disasters are already costing us hundreds of billions of dollars every year—Hurricane Ida alone resulted in more than $64.5 billion in damages across the country—we can’t afford to wait to act any longer.
Senator Sinema Contact Info: @SenatorSinema
3333 E. Camelback Rd, Suite 200
Phoenix, Arizona 85018
Phone: 602-598-7327
317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-4521
Senator Kelly Contact Info: @SenMarkKelly
2201 E. Camelback Rd
Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602-671-7901
Hart Senate Office Building
Suite 516
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2235
