Voters Continue to Support the Build Back Better Agenda
By Anika Dandekar and Ethan Winter
Invest in America and Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,177 likely voters from October 29 to November 1, 2021, just after the White House released President Biden’s new proposed framework, to test voters' attitudes towards the newly released Build Back Better framework. As Data for Progress has found before, the Build Back Better plan — along with each of its provisions — is vastly popular with voters, even when they are told how it will be paid for and given arguments against its passage.
A Majority of Voters Support the Build Back Better Plan
With a +29-point margin, likely voters support the Build Back Better plan. The plan is very popular with both Democrats and Independents, who support the plan by respective margins of +83 and +19 percentage points. One-third of Republican voters also say they support the plan.
The Build Back Better Plan Still Receives Majority Support when Voters Are Informed of Pay-fors
We then tested how the Build Back Better framework polls when voters are informed of the taxes that will pay for the investments. We find Build Back Better is backed by a +30-point margin of support when respondents are informed of how the plan is to be paid for. The plan becomes slightly more popular with both Democrats and Independents, who support the plan with respective margins of +84 and +25 percentage points after they hear of the taxes that will pay for the investments. Thirty-four percent of Republicans support the plan when told how it will be paid for.
The Build Back Better Plan Provisions are all Supported by Majority of Voters
Data for Progress then tested each provision of the plan separately. We find:
Among all voters, improving the quality of and increasing access to long- term care for seniors and people with disabilities is backed by a +63-point margin of support.
Expanding Medicare coverage to include hearing care is supported by a +59-point margin.
Investing in housing affordability, by reducing price pressures, creating new units, and improving existing housing is backed by a +40-point margin of support.
With support margins of over +30 points, funding for clean energy and climate resilience that creates jobs in manufacturing and environmental conservation, investing in child care, making pre-K universal for all three and four year-olds, and expanding Earned Income Tax Credits all prove very popular with likely voters.
Increasing access to higher education by raising the maximum Pell grant, increasing funding for minority-serving colleges, and better funding workforce development is supported by a +26-point margin.
Expanding tax credits for those covered by the Affordable Care Act is backed by a +23-point margin of support. Expanding the Child Tax Credit is also supported by a majority of voters, with a plus-nine-point margin.
Voters say the American Economy Would be Better off if the Build Back Better Passed
A plurality (46 percent) of all likely voters say that from what they know about Build Back Better , the American economy will be “better off” if it became law — more than those who think it will “stay the same” (15 percent) and those that think it will be “worse off” (30 percent) combined. A plurality of Democrats and Independent voters (71 percent and 43 percent, respectively) believe the economy will be better off if the legislation passed, though just eighteen percent of Republicans think the economy would be better off if Build Back Better became law.
A Majority of Voters Think the Build Back Better Plan Creates Opportunities and is not Unnecessary Spending
Finally when shown statements for and against the Build Back Better plan, we find respondents agree with the statement in favor of the Build Back Better plan over the one opposed. Among all likely voters, a majority (51% - 39%) support the view that the Build Back Better plan will provide seniors and children new opportunities and will create millions of jobs. Eighty-three percent of Democrats believe this statement in favor of the plan, while Independents are more split. Forty-two percent of Independents agree with the view that the plan will create new jobs and opportunities, versus 43 percent of Independents support the view that the plan is unnecessary spending and will create debt. Twenty-one percent of Republicans agree with the opportunities and jobs statement, while 72 percent agree with the spending and debt statement.
Overall, we find the Build Back Better plan and its provisions are very popular. Even when respondents are shown the ways it is paid for and an argument against it, we find the legislation retains majority support.
Anika Dandekar is polling analyst at Data for Progress. You can email her at anika@dataforprogress.org
Ethan Winter (@EthanBWinter) is a senior analyst at Data for Progress. You can email him at ethan@dataforprogress.org.
Methodology and full results