Pro-Biden group launches new ads urging Democrats to pass infrastructure, budget bills

A nonprofit group closely aligned with White House is launching a new ad campaign Wednesday in an array of battleground House districts, as it attempts to encourage Democratic lawmakers to support President Joe Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar economic agenda.

Backed by a $5 million investment, the TV and digital ads from the group Building Back Together arrive one day after the House cleared a key procedural hurdle to advance Biden’s spending proposals, following an argument between the party’s liberal and centrist factions that threatened to delay their passage.

Officials with the group say they wanted to show members of the House that the policy priorities Biden is championing are not only popular with the public, but that lawmakers can expect help promoting them to voters.

“This is a pivotal moment in the president’s agenda and passing the president’s agenda,” said Xochitl Hinojosa, a strategist for the group. “Building Back Together is the organization working to make sure that it does get passed.”

The ads are part of a previously announced pledge from the group to spend $10 million supporting Biden’s legislative agenda, which includes a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion budget measure designed to broadly boost social service subsidies and efforts to combat climate change.

The TV ads, set to run in Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will feature policies included in the proposals, like an extension of a child tax credit policy that delivers monthly payments to most families with children. Additional digital ads will thank Democratic lawmakers for supporting Tuesday’s procedural vote in the House.

A constellation of progressive groups, including Building Back Together, said earlier this summer that they would spend a combined $100 million in support of Biden’s agenda.

Those groups, which include liberal organizations like MoveOn.org Political Action, have now committed another $10 million to the effort, according to Building Back Together officials. They are also organizing on-the-ground events in states and key districts, officials say, as part of an overall effort to show support for the legislation.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 12:45 PM with the headline "Pro-Biden group launches new ads urging Democrats to pass infrastructure, budget bills."