The Senate is set to take a key vote on Saturday to advance Democrats’ comprehensive health care and climate change legislation

The Senate is expected to take the first procedural vote to proceed with the legislation sometime later on Saturday. A simple majority is required for the question to proceed.

A vote has yet to be taken, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Saturday afternoon ET that “within a few hours” the House will “formally begin the process of approving the deflationary bill.”

Democrats control the narrowest possible majority and only 50 seats in the Senate, but are expected to unite to advance the legislation on a primary vote.

In order to pass the bill in the reconciliation process, however, the package must comply with strict budget rules.

Senate Democrats must decide whether the provisions in the bill meet the rules to pass the bill using a filibuster-proof budget process across party lines.

Schumer announced Saturday that the bill “remains preserved by the majority” after a review by lawmakers.

“The bill, if passed, would meet all of our goals — fighting climate change, lowering health care costs, closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and reducing the deficit,” the New York Democrat said.

In a key decision, Rep. Elizabeth McDonough allowed a key part of Democrats’ prescription drug pricing plans to move forward — giving Medicare the power to negotiate the price of some prescription drugs for the first time.

But McDonough tightened another provision aimed at lowering drug prices — imposing penalties on drug companies if they raise prices faster than inflation. Democrats wanted the measure to apply to both Medicare and the private insurance market. But the lawmaker decided the inflation rate could only be applied to Medicare, a Democratic aide said.

Democrats are awaiting new spending estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to see how the decision will affect their deficit estimates. It is possible that the limited supply of drugs may limit the reduction of package defects to some extent.

Meanwhile, McDonough has decided to keep a number of climate measures from the Environment and Public Works Committee in a compromise, including a methane tax on oil and gas producers that emit more than certain thresholds of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.

Earlier Saturday, Oregon Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden announced that the clean energy tax portion of the bill “complies with Senate rules, and important provisions that ensure our clean energy future is built in America have been passed by the House.”

What happens after the bill is submitted for the first key vote?

If the first procedural vote to move forward with the bill gets the support of all 50 members of the Democratic caucus, then there will be up to 20 hours of debate between the two sides on equal terms, although it can sometimes be called back to speed up the process.

It’s not yet clear how much of the allotted debate time each side will use, but some Republicans are saying they won’t try to use it all. And Democrats are expected to take back some of their time.

Asked if he plans to use more debate time, GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, which could delay the final Senate bill, said, “Probably not.”

Another Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said Saturday that it would not require Senate clerks to read the entire bill, as any senator can request under the law. Johnson forced a reading of the American Savings Plan Act during the budget process last year, delaying a vote on the bill.

Republicans can use vote-a-rama to put Democrats in their place and force politically strong votes. The process usually lasts overnight and into the next morning.

Senators widely expect Republicans to kill the insulin provisions included in the Democrats’ climate and health care legislation on the Senate floor during the vote, which will force a Senate member to decide whether to stay in real time. In the account.

These provisions limit insulin prices to $35 through the private insurance market and Medicare. According to a Democratic aide, the congressman ruled that insulin coverage in the private insurance market is not compatible with reconciliation. Democrats were not surprised by her decision on individual market pricing, but are hoping that Medicare’s insulin cap will remain in place, the aide said.

But either way, the aide said, Democrats will keep both insulin provisions in the bill going forward — prompting the GOP to move and try to defeat them on the Senate floor.

It is not yet clear when the vote-rama will start but it is likely to start on Saturday evening. If that happens, a final vote could be taken early Sunday morning.

Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is recovering from DAP surgery, returned to the Senate on Saturday. His return is important to Democrats, who need the votes of 50 members of their House to advance the bill.

Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn has returned to the Senate after being absent last week after testing positive for Covid-19.

The House is set to come back to take up the bill on Friday, August 12, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office.

How the bill solves the climate crisis

For a party that failed to pass major climate legislation 10 years ago, the reconciliation bill represents a major and long-fought victory for Democrats.

The nearly $370 billion clean energy and climate package is the largest climate investment in U.S. history and the biggest win for the environmental movement since the landmark Clean Air Act. It also comes at a critical time; This winter has seen punishing heat waves and deadly floods across the country, both of which scientists say are linked to a warming planet.

An analysis by Schumer’s office — as well as several independent analyzes — suggests the measures would reduce US carbon emissions by up to 40% by 2030. Strong climate laws from the Biden administration and action from states are needed to achieve Biden’s goals. 50% reduction in emissions by 2030.

The bill also contains several tax incentives intended to reduce the cost of electricity from more renewables and encourage more American consumers to switch their homes and vehicles to electric.

Lawmakers say the bill represents a major victory and is just the beginning of what is needed to fight the climate crisis.

“This isn’t about the laws of politics, it’s about the laws of physics,” Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii told CNN. “Coming into this effort, we all know that we have to do what the science tells us to do.”

Key health care and tax policy in the bill

The bill would allow Medicare to negotiate the price of some expensive drugs that are administered in a doctor’s office or purchased at a pharmacy. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will renegotiate the prices of 10 drugs in 2026 and another 15 drugs in 2027 and 2028. The number will increase to 20 drugs per year for 2029 and beyond.

The controversial provision is the most restrictive of any that Democratic House leaders have supported in the past. But Medicare also opens the door to fulfilling the party’s long-term goal of reducing drug costs.

Democrats plan to extend federal premium subsidies for Obamacare coverage until 2025, a year after lawmakers recently debated it. That way, their term will not expire after the 2024 presidential election.

To raise revenue, the bill would impose a 15% lower tax on shareholders on the income of large corporations, unlike the Internal Revenue Service. The measure, which would raise $258 billion over ten years, would apply to companies with profits of more than $1 billion.

Concerned about how the provision would affect certain businesses, particularly manufacturers, she said she won changes to the Democrats’ plan to explain how cinema companies can deduct non-valuable assets from taxes. The details are unclear.

However, Sinema has tightened his party’s efforts to tighten the interest loophole, allowing investment managers to treat most of their compensation as capital gains and pay a 20% long-term capital gains tax instead of an income tax rate of up to 37%.

The provision extends the holding period for investment managers’ dividends from three years to five years to take advantage of the lower tax rate. Closing the gap, which could raise $14 billion over a decade, has been a longtime goal of congressional Democrats.

Instead, he added a 1% excise tax on corporate stock purchases, adding another $74 billion, according to a Democratic aide.

This story has been updated with additional developments.