From Electric Bikes to ‘Tree Equity,’ Biden’s Social Policy Bill Funds Niche Items

The Build Back Better Act’s marquee provisions have been the focus, but Democrats have swept dozens of obscure measures and special interest breaks into the $1.85 trillion bill.

WASHINGTON — It includes a $4.1 billion tax break for people who buy electric bicycles, $2.5 billion for “tree equity,” another $2.5 billion to help “contingency fee” lawyers recoup their expenses and a long-sought tax break for producers of sound recordings.

The marquee programs within the Democrats’ social safety net and climate change bill — such as universal prekindergarten, child care subsidies and prescription drug price controls — have garnered most of the public attention. But when a nearly $2 trillion piece of legislation moves through Congress, it affords lawmakers ample opportunity to pursue any number of niche issues — and lobbyists and industries plenty of room to notch long-sought victories tucked deep inside thousands of pages of text.

That is the case with the Build Back Better Act, which could aid a wide array of special interests and Democratic allies that have waited for years for such a moment.