July 27 (UPI) — Sen. Joe Manchin on Wednesday announced that he has reached a deal with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on a domestic spending bill including energy programs and tax policy changes.
Manchin, D-W.Va., and Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement that the measure, known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, will receive a vote on the Senate floor next week.
“The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will make a historic down payment on deficit reduction to fight inflation, invest in domestic energy production and manufacturing and reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030,” the pair said.
The bill would raise $313 billion through a 15% corporate minimum tax, $288 billion through prescription drug pricing reforms, $124 billion through IRS enforcement of reformed tax code and $14 billion by closing the carried interest loophole.
It also invests nearly $370 billion in energy and climate spending over the next 10 years along with $64 billion to extend an expanded Affordable Care Act program for three years, resulting in a total of more than $300 billion in deficit reduction.
Manchin, who has often withheld his key vote in the evenly divided Senate from supporting the Democratic agenda, said he would vote in favor of the bill in his own statement.
“Let me make it clear, I will not vote to support policies that make the United States more dependent on foreign energy and supply chains or risk moving the country closer to the unstable and vulnerable European model of energy we are witnessing today,” he said. “Most importantly, I am heartened by the bipartisan recognition that for America to achieve our energy and climate goals, it is critical we reform the broken permitting process.”
Manchin and Schumer said they had also reached an agreement with President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to pass the legislation before the end of the fiscal year.
Biden in a statement said the legislation “will be historic” if enacted and urged Congress to pass it as quickly as possible.
“This is the action the American people have been waiting for,” Biden said. “This addresses the problems of today — high healthcare costs and overall inflation — as well as investments in our energy security for the future.”
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