It was an all-nighter, but the Democrats in the Senate finally passed the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.”
The vote went according to party lines on Sunday and the tie was broken at 3 pm on Sunday afternoon by Vice President Kamala Harris. The debates had been raging since Saturday evening.
The $740 billion legislation now moves to the House of Representatives, which is set to reconvene at the end of this week to vote on it.
The largest portion of money in the bill $369 billion, is focused on the climate spending package.
The bill contains a 16.4 cents per barrel tax on crude oil and petroleum products imported into the U.S. The bill also includes several Democratic health care priorities. You read that right, new taxes on oil products while America is having pain at the pump.
Here’s the crazy part of the bill. It proposes to raise some $258 billion in new revenue by imposing a 15% minimum tax on companies with more than $1 billion in profits.
There were more than 20 amendments to the bill proposed by Senators on both sides of the aisle, but the Senate struck down nearly all of them to get the bill over the finish line.
Republicans forced votes on several last-minute amendments on Sunday. First, they successfully cut out a portion of the bill that placed a $35 cap on insulin prices in the private insurance market.
House Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) introduced an amendment to build in exemptions for the 15% corporate minimum tax established by the bill.
It was supported by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) but generated controversy because it would cause electoral problems for House Democrats in coastal districts who campaigned on ending the SALT cap.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) replaced the SALT cap extension with an amendment to extend existing limitations on how certain businesses can write off their losses for another two years.
Long story short…Kamala had the final vote, so this will be on her. Good luck if you are planning to run in 2024.
