10 things you need to know today: August 10, 2021

Democrats tee up $3.5 trillion budget plan, debate over school mask mandates heats up, and more

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(Image credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Democrats tee up $3.5 trillion budget plan to follow infrastructure passage

The Senate is expected to approve a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Tuesday morning, then the chamber will begin considering a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint Senate Democrats released Monday. The budget blueprint, expected to pass with only Democratic votes, will unlock the reconciliation process, allowing the ambitious spending proposal to move out of the Senate with no Republican support. The budget package envisions two years of free community college, universal pre-kindergarten, expanded Medicare coverage of dental and vision, and efforts to combat climate change and poverty, paid for mostly through higher taxes on profitable corporations and wealthy households. The $3.5 trillion price tag is a ceiling, and agreeing on the actual measures and funding mechanisms will pit moderate and progressive Democrats against each other.

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