The Build Back Better Act (BBBA) is a reconciliation bill, which means it is very much time sensitive. In a new insight, Director of Fiscal Policy Gordon Gray walks through the multiple time constraints at play for the BBBA – in particular, the most pressing deadline to get the bill through the Senate.

Key points:

• First, reconciliation allows the BBBA to bypass a Senate filibuster, as debate is limited to 20 hours.
• Second, the BBBA’s reconciliation process is available to legislators only until September 30, 2022 – the end of the fiscal year covered by the budget.
• Finally, the fundamental time constraint on the BBBA is political (i.e., this year’s midterm elections).

Read the analysis