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WASHINGTON – After months of grueling negotiations, Democrats are poised to push through climate, tax and health care packages that save key elements of President Biden’s domestic agenda.
The law, build back $2.2 trillion while better law is failing The council passed in NovemberIt fulfills a number of long-standing Democratic goals, including measures to combat climate change on a rapidly warming planet, measures to reduce prescription drug costs, and reforming parts of the tax code to make it fairer.
Here’s what’s in the final package:
It is America’s largest investment in reducing global warming.
The bill includes significant spending by the federal government to reduce global warming and reduce demand for fossil fuels, which are the primary drivers of climate change.
It would invest nearly $400 billion in tax credits over 10 years to drive consumers toward electric vehicles and shift electric utilities toward renewable energy sources like wind or solar power.
Energy experts say the measure would help the United States cut greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. That Biden administration in 2016 It puts it within striking distance of meeting the goal of cutting emissions in half by 2030. To help keep the planet from warming up to dangerously high global temperatures, Scientists saidBut Democrats saw it as an important first step after decades of inaction.
At the same time, the Democrats agreed Many fossil fuels and drilling supplies As a concession to Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a conservative state heavily dependent on coal and gas.
The move secures new oil drilling contracts in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Expands tax credits Carbon capture technology It allows coal or gas-fired power plants to continue operating with lower emissions. And it would require the Interior Department to continue holding bids for fossil fuels if it plans to approve new wind or solar projects on federal lands.
The tax credits include $30 billion to boost production of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and critical minerals. $10 billion to build facilities to make things like electric vehicles and solar panels; and $500 million for heat pumps and critical minerals processing under the Defense Production Act.
There’s $60 billion to help areas disproportionately affected by climate change, including $27 billion from the first national “green bank” to help mobilize investments in clean energy projects — especially in poor communities. The bill would have required oil and gas companies to pay up to $1,500 per ton to release the powerful greenhouse gas, which releases large amounts of methane, and was signed by President Donald J. Trump would repeal a 10-year ban on offshore wind leasing. .
Medicare can directly negotiate prescription drug prices, reducing costs.
For the first time, Medicare will be allowed to negotiate with drugmakers on prescription drug prices, which is expected to save the federal government billions of dollars. That will apply to 10 drugs at the beginning of 2026 and then add more drugs in the following years.
Opponents argue that the plan will reduce the profits drug companies plow into their businesses and stifle innovation and the development of new treatments, while some liberals have expressed frustration that the policy is too slow to catch on. If the package becomes law, as expected, it will be the largest federal health policy expansion since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
The package covers up to $2,000 in out-of-pocket costs for seniors each year for prescriptions and gives seniors access to free immunizations. Legislators have included discount rates if price increases exceed the rate of inflation. (Senior Senate legislation officials, however, said the penalty would only apply to Medicare, not private insurers.)
Republicans successfully vetoed the inclusion of a $35 price cap for patients on private insurance in a rapid-fire series of amendment votes Sunday morning, forcing its removal. But a separate proposal to cover the cost of insulin for Medicare patients for $35 a month remains intact.
Expanded health care subsidies will be extended.
As part of the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that Democrats secured last year, lawmakers agreed to expand it. Subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. That proposal A premium discount for almost every American who relies on the program’s marketplaceFreeing up some plans for low-income people or providing some support to high-income people who previously had no assistance.
A package that could pass the Senate as early as Sunday would extend those subsidies for another three years through the end of the year. Democrats fear it could spell trouble in November’s midterm elections if they allow the subsidy to be cut.
Wealthy corporations would see tax increases, and the IRS would receive funding.
The tax proposals were drawn up by Arizona Democrat Sen. Kirsten Sinema, who opposes her party’s efforts to raise tax rates on the nation’s wealthiest corporations and individuals.
To avoid the rate hikes that Ms. Sinema opposed, Democrats agreed instead. A very complicated change in the tax code: A new 15 percent corporate minimum tax on profits companies report to shareholders. It applies to companies that report more than $1 billion in annual revenue on their financial statements but are able to reduce credits, deductions and other tax treatments. Effective tax rates.
Ms. Sinema also defended cuts that would benefit producers, something she had successfully sought in the past. Execution on Thursday To move forward with the law.
She obliged Removal of the proposal Supported by Democrats and Republicans, it would narrow tax breaks used by both the hedge fund and private equity industries to secure lower tax rates than their entry-level workers. And she has pledged to pursue separate legislation outside the budget package, but that would require at least 10 Republicans to support it.
The law would bolster the IRS with an investment of nearly $80 billion in hopes of generating additional tax revenue by cracking down on wealthy corporations and wealthy tax dodgers.
Republicans, who have historically opposed raising funds for the agency, argued that it would increase audits and investigations of low-income families. The IRS, in turn, He rejected the threat“These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny of small businesses or middle-income Americans,” he told Congress.
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