President Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better act will specifically ban religious schools from using infrastructure grants to renovate or better their facilities.
If the infrastructure bill passes the House when it will be voted upon on Friday, then it will ban religiously-affiliated schools or child care services from allocating funds to improve their facilities.
Grant recipients 'may not use the funds for modernization, renovation or repair of facilities that are primarily used for sectarian instruction or religious worship,' the bill says.
In March, Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA.) and junior South Carolina Senator Tim Scott introduced the Child Welfare Inclusion Act, a bill to ensure that both state and local governments cannot discriminate against faith-based adoption and foster care providers by forcing them to choose between offering these vital services and violating their deeply held religious beliefs.
However, the bill failed to make it past the Ways and Means Committee back in September.
President Biden's Build Back Better bill includes an amendment that specifically prohibits religious schools from using infrastructure grants to renovate or better their facilities
House Democrats will hope that one of the Biden Administration's top priorities, the Build Back Better act (pictured), will gain the majority of votes on Friday
Kelly's press secretary, Matt Knoedler, expressed the congressman's disappointment towards the stepback.
'The congressman was disappointed that Democrats wouldn't grant such a simple request to help our children during previous negotiations,' Knoedler told Fox News in a statement. 'His Religious Freedom Amendment was an inclusive bill that would have given parents greater choice and allow them to pick a child care service that was best for them.'
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to reveal any date on the bill's voting session, widely expected to take place on Friday, or whether Democrats already have the majority to pass it.
Democrats have failed to meet previous self-imposed deadlines to pass the bills that form the cornerstone of Biden's legislative agenda, but the aide said that leadership was confident on finishing on Friday.
Biden, the country's second Catholic president, lobbied Democrats in the House on Thursday night to vote 'yes' on his social policy and climate-change bill, as the party tries to recover from sobering state election losses.
A White House official said Biden was calling various House members and urging them to vote yes.
House Speaker Pelosi expressed hope for action on the bill this week, expected to be voted in the House on Friday, although she refused to share a specific date on the legislation's timing
Biden left for Europe last week for a meeting of G20 leaders and a U.N. climate conference without a deal on the legislation.
An affirmative vote before the conclusion
