After spiking earlier talks, Manchin agrees to a new deal on climate and taxes
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin have released preliminary details of a bill to address climate change, taxes, health care and inflation. The agreement is a major reversal for Democrats who had narrowed their ambitions for the package to addressing looming lapses in the Affordable Care Act and changes to prescription drug prices.
"After many months of negotiations, we have finalized legislative text that will invest approximately $300 billion in Deficit Reduction and $369.75 billion in Energy Security and Climate Change programs over the next 10 years," the senators said in a joint statement. "The investments will be fully paid for by closing tax loopholes on wealthy individuals and corporations."
Updated July 27, 2022 at 5:43 PM ET
The legislation — called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — would also continue expansions to the Affordable Care Act that passed during the pandemic though 2025 and allow Medicare to pursue lower drug costs by negotiating directly with drug companies. Democrats say the plan avoids any new taxes on families making $400,000 or less and does not include any new taxes on small businesses.
The new agreement aims to "reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030" and address inflation while also reducing the deficit, according to documents released by Schumer and Manchin. Full text of the bill is not yet available. Schumer plans to submit the bill to the Senate parliamentarian for review tonight in order to start votes on the bill next week. Democrats plan to pass the bill using the budget process to avoid a Republican filibuster, provided the legislation has unanimous support among Senate Democrats.
Manchin and Schumer say they have also reached an agreement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden on to pass a permitting reform bill by the end of the year with the goal of easing permits for domestic energy production and transmission. [Copyright 2022 NPR]
