WASHINGTON—The Senate advanced a climate and tax package past a procedural hurdle in the narrowly divided chamber, as Democrats closed in on passing elements of President Biden’s agenda that have languished on Capitol Hill for more than a year.
After the procedural vote, which was approved 51-50 thanks to a tiebreaking vote by Vice President
Kamala Harris,
lawmakers began an hourslong series of votes on amendments that aren’t likely to change the bill’s contents. Once that process is over, the package could receive a final vote in the 50-50 Senate later on Sunday before it is sent to the House, where lawmakers are scheduled to vote on it Friday.
The legislation, which largely survived a review by the Senate’s parliamentarian, raises more than $700 billion in government revenue over 10 years, with much of that coming from a 15% minimum tax on large, profitable corporations and money generated by enhancing tax-collection efforts at the Internal Revenue Service. Empowering Medicare to negotiate lower prescription-drug prices and imposing a 1% tax on stock buybacks will also add revenue to the government’s budget in the next decade.
About $430 billion of those funds would be dedicated toward incentives for companies and individuals to reduce carbon emissions and an extension of subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The legislation dedicates the rest of the new revenue toward reducing the deficit.
The bill meets “all of our goals: fighting climate change, lowering healthcare costs, closing tax loopholes abused by the wealthy, and reducing the deficit,” Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer
(D., N.Y.) said Saturday. “This is a major win for the American people,” he said.
Republicans say that the bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, would do little to combat inflation and contains damaging corporate tax increases that would flow down to households.
Democrats united on their climate and healthcare package after making changes Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) demanded.
Photo:
Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg News
Referencing voters’ worries over inflation, Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell
(R., Ky.) said Saturday that Senate Democrats “are misreading the American people’s outrage for yet another reckless taxing-and-spending spree.”
During the amendment process, Republicans largely targeted the bill’s energy and tax provisions. They also offered an amendment to reinstate a pandemic-era policy known as Title 42, which allows migrants to be turned away at the border without a chance to ask for asylum. The Biden administration has sought to end the policy.
Democrats lined up against the GOP proposals as they sought to prevent any changes that could endanger the bill’s support in the chamber.
Sen.
Bob Menendez
(D., N.J.) said Saturday that he would oppose the legislation entirely if lawmakers voted to add immigration restrictions during the amendment process.
“I urge my Democratic colleagues to stand united and vote no on ALL amendments, regardless of the underlying policy and regardless of which party offers them,” Mr. Menendez said.
As they blocked GOP amendments, Democrats occasionally offered parallel proposals that ran afoul of Senate rules, giving lawmakers the opportunity to vote in support of measures without risking alterations to the bill.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) gave a lengthy speech in the Senate to call on Democrats to expand the legislation’s measures. He said the current bill was inadequate as written.
“What I am asking today is for all 50 Democrats to come together and begin the process of addressing the major crises facing working families,” he said, adding that the bill “has some good features, but also some very bad features.”
In the first amendment of the night, Mr. Sanders introduced an expansion of the drug-pricing provisions, seeking to begin government negotiation for lower prices sooner and apply it to more drugs. It, along with another proposal from Mr. Sanders to broaden the legislation, failed as Democrats joined Republicans to vote them down.
The open-ended amendment process, called a vote-a-rama in the Senate, is the last obstacle Democrats face to pass the legislation, which Democrats are pursuing through a legislative process called reconciliation. Reconciliation allows Democrats to skirt the 60-vote threshold necessary for most legislation in the Senate, but it also requires lawmakers to comply with a special series of rules and undergo the lengthy amendment process.
The Senate’s nonpartisan parliamentarian made a series of rulings on Saturday that found much of the Democrats’ bill complied with reconciliation’s rules.
“I’m happy to report to my colleagues that the bill we presented to the parliamentarian remains largely intact,” said Mr. Schumer said.
Mr. Schumer said the parliamentarian didn’t accept one portion of the bill, related to a requirement that drug companies pay rebates if they raise prices faster than inflation for Medicare and private insurance.
The rebate requirements will only apply to Medicare, and not the commercial market, a setback to Democrats’ efforts to limit drug prices more broadly. A push to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month could face a similar fate as the rebate provision, and Democrats are preparing to try forcing the issue on the Senate floor and putting Republicans on the spot over the sensitive political issue.
After reaching an agreement with Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), who has resisted much of Democrats’ broader agenda, after months of failed negotiations, Democrats had to make a series of final changes this week to the bill on Thursday to earn the support of Sen.
Kyrsten Sinema
(D., Ariz.). They agreed to pare back elements of the corporate minimum tax and to drop a proposed tax increase on carried-interest income.
Ms. Sinema hasn’t explicitly committed to supporting the bill, saying she wants to see its final form after the amendment process.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) has resisted much of Democrats’ broader agenda.
Photo:
Rod Lamkey/Zuma Press
If Democrats are successful in passing the bill, its passage would mark a victory for their party just months before the midterm elections, which polls show will be challenging for Democrats in large part because of public concern over inflation.
Beginning in 2026, the bill would for the first time empower Medicare to negotiate the prices of a limited set of drugs selected from among those that account for the biggest share of government expenditures. It would also cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000 a year, beginning in 2025, and starting next year mandate free vaccines for Medicare enrollees. Under the bill, subsidies enacted last year as part of the American Rescue Plan to help people buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act would be extended for three years, through 2025, at a cost of $64 billion.
On climate change, the bill pumps money into wind and solar projects, along with the batteries to store renewable energy, while also subsidizing technology to capture and store carbon-dioxide emissions. Consumers would benefit from subsidies for certain windows, heat pumps and other energy-efficient products, as well the extension of a $7,500 tax credit to buy electric vehicles.
Builders, homeowners and small businesses could avail themselves of new capital pouring into so-called green banks, which will receive $20 billion to provide low-cost financing for energy-efficient products such as heat pumps, windows, solar panels, insulation and electric-vehicle charging stations.
The most significant climate provisions are tax credits that would channel billions of dollars to wind, solar and battery developments that put clean power onto the grid, according to Rhodium Group, an independent research firm. The group estimated that the bill would cut greenhouse-gas emissions 31% to 44% below 2005 levels in 2030, compared with 24% to 35% under current policy.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com and Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
