NEW YORK — Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Foundation, commented today following the release of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate for H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act. Peterson said:

“This CBO score is the latest evidence that this bill needs to be improved as it moves through the legislative process. While the administration and leaders in Congress deserve credit for identifying ways to offset most of the spending, CBO finds that it comes up short.

“What’s most concerning is that the bill remains riddled with timing gimmicks that hide its true potential cost, injecting uncertainty into our budget, economy and society. Instead of passing important fiscal decisions off to future lawmakers, today’s leaders should decide now how to fully fund their priorities through transparent and credible offsets. And with important programs like Social Security and Medicare on their own shaky ground, we need to do more, beyond this bill, to ensure that all of our nation’s priorities have a secure future.

“Lawmakers have an obligation and valuable opportunity to keep working to improve the bill, to make it more responsible and sustainable for the American people, now and for generations to come.”

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