Topline
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a climate, health and tax bill that he called “one of the most significant laws” in U.S. history, marking a major win for Biden’s domestic agenda after months of stalled talks on the package.
President Joe Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act into law during a ceremony.
Key Facts
The package will “lock in place” lower health care costs for Americans and make the “biggest step forward on climate ever,” Biden said during a signing ceremony in the White House’s State Dining Room.
The signing comes after the House approved the measure along party lines on Friday after the bill passed the Senate days earlier with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as a 50-50 tie breaker.
The package represents a scaled-back version of the Biden administration’s goals, including $369 billion in spending on climate and energy programs and a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on prescription drug costs for Medicare patients, among other provisions.
What To Watch For
Biden plans to travel across the U.S. to tout the new bill, which he has called the final part of his domestic agenda, as a part of a “Building a Better America Tour.” He will also host a larger celebration of the bill’s passage on September 6.
Key Background
The Inflation Reduction Act is an abbreviated version of Biden’s $2.2 trillion Build Back Better bill, which failed in the Senate last December after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) decided to oppose it, leaving Democrats short of key votes. Weeks after Democratic lawmakers had said they had stopped trying to convince Manchin to throw his support behind the bill, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Manchin revealed last month they had reached a deal on a smaller package. The bill includes the largest investment in clean energy in U.S. history to help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. It also contains several health care measures, including a $35 monthly cap on insulin, an expensive diabetes drug, for Medicare recipients starting next year. The spending will be financed mostly by tax increases, including a 15% minimum tax on corporations that make at least $1 billion a year in income. The package is also expected to address inflation by cutting health care costs and trimming hundreds of billions of federal deficit dollars, according to the White House though it is not expected to combat inflation right away, and by how much remains unclear.
Further Reading
House Passes Democrats’ Ambitious $430 Billion Climate And Health Bill (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/08/16/biden-signs-sweeping-climate-and-health-care-package/