The legislation includes the most substantial federal
investment in history to fight climate change — some $375 billion over the
decade — and would cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 out-of-pocket annually
for Medicare recipients. It also would help an estimated 13 million Americans
pay for health care insurance by extending subsidies provided during the
coronavirus pandemic.
The measure is paid for by new taxes on large companies and
stepped-up IRS enforcement of wealthy individuals and entities, with additional
funds going to reduce the federal deficit.
In a triumphant signing event at the White House, Biden
pointed to the law as proof that democracy — no matter how long or messy the
process — can still deliver for voters in America as he road-tested a line he
will likely repeat later this fall ahead of the midterms: “The American people
won, and the special interests lost.”
“In this historic moment, Democrats sided with the American
people, and every single Republican in the Congress sided with the special
interests in this vote,” Biden said, repeatedly seizing on the contrast between
his party and the GOP. “Every single one.”
The House on Friday approved the measure on a party-line
220-207 vote. It passed the Senate days earlier with Vice President Kamala
Harris breaking a 50-50 tie in that chamber.
“In normal times, getting these bills done would be a huge
achievement,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during the
White House ceremony. “But to do it now, with only 50 Democratic votes in the
Senate, over an intransigent Republican minority, is nothing short of amazing.”
Biden signed the bill into law during a small ceremony in
the State Dining Room of the White House, sandwiched between his return from a
six-day beachside vacation in South Carolina and his departure for his home in
Wilmington, Delaware. He plans to hold a larger “celebration” for the
legislation on Sept. 6 once lawmakers return to Washington.
The signing caps a spurt of legislative productivity for
Biden and Congress, who in three months have approved legislation on veterans’
benefits, the semiconductor industry and gun checks for young buyers. The
president and lawmakers have also responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and
overwhelmingly supported NATO membership for Sweden and Finland.
With Biden’s approval rating lagging, Democrats are hoping
that the string of successes will jump-start their chances of maintaining
control in Washington in the November midterms. The 79-year-old president aims to
restore his own standing with voters as he contemplates a reelection bid.
The White House announced Monday that it was going to deploy
Biden and members of his Cabinet on a “Building a Better America Tour” to
promote the recent victories. One of Biden’s trips will be to Ohio, where he’ll
view the groundbreaking of a semiconductor plant that will benefit from the
recent law to bolster production of such computer chips. He will also stop in
Pennsylvania to promote his administration’s plan for safer communities, a
visit that had been planned the same day he tested positive for COVID-19 last
month.
“In the coming weeks, the President will host a Cabinet
meeting focused on implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, will travel across
the country to highlight how the bill will help the American people, and will
host an event to celebrate the enactment of the bill at the White House on
September 6th,” the White House said in a statement.
Republicans say the legislation’s new business taxes will
increase prices, worsening the nation’s bout with its highest inflation since
1981. Though Democrats have labeled the measure the Inflation Reduction Act,
nonpartisan analysts say it will have a barely perceptible impact on prices.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., on Tuesday
continued those same criticisms, although he acknowledged there would be
“benefit” through extensions on tax credits for renewable energy projects like
solar and wind.
“I think it’s too much spending, too much taxing, and in my
view wrong priorities, and a super-charged, super-sized IRS that is going to be
going after a lot of not just high-income taxpayers but a lot of mid-income
taxpayers,” said Thune, speaking at a Chamber of Commerce event in Sioux Falls.
The administration has disputed that anyone but high earners will face
increased tax scrutiny, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen directing the tax
agency to focus solely on businesses and people earning more than $400,000 per
year for the new audits.
The measure is a slimmed-down version of the more ambitious
plan to supercharge environment and social programs that Biden and his party
unveiled early last year.
Biden’s initial 10-year, $3.5 trillion proposal also
envisioned free prekindergarten, paid family and medical leave, expanded
Medicare benefits and eased immigration restrictions. That crashed after
centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said it was too costly, using the leverage
every Democrat has in the evenly divided Senate.
During the signing event, Biden addressed Manchin, who
struck the critical deal with Schumer on the package last month, saying, “Joe,
I never had a doubt” as the crowd chuckled.
Though the law is considerably smaller than their initial
ambitions, Biden and Democrats are hailing the legislation as a
once-in-a-generation investment in addressing the long-term effects of climate
change, as well as drought in the nation’s West.
The bill will direct spending, tax credits and loans to
bolster technology like solar panels, consumer efforts to improve home energy
efficiency, emission-reducing equipment for coal- and gas-powered power plants,
and air pollution controls for farms, ports and low-income communities.
Another $64 billion would help 13 million people pay
premiums over the next three years for privately bought health insurance under
the Affordable Care Act. Medicare would gain the power to negotiate its costs
for pharmaceuticals, initially in 2026 for only 10 drugs. Medicare
beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket prescription costs would be limited to $2,000
annually starting in 2025, and beginning next year would pay no more than $35
monthly for insulin, the costly diabetes drug.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a powerful political ally to
Biden, noted during the White House ceremony that his late wife, Emily, who
battled diabetes for three decades, would be “beyond joy” if she were alive
today because of the insulin cap.
“Many seem surprised at your successes,” Clyburn told Biden.
“I am not. I know you.”