The estimated $740-billion proposal, struck by two top negotiators, includes some hard-fought party priorities -- from health care to climate change.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on August 05, 2022 in Washington, DC. Schumer spoke on the Inflation Reduction Act. It's nowhere near the $4 trillion proposal President Joe Biden first launched to rebuild America's public infrastructure and family support systems but the compromise package of inflation-fighting health care, climate change and deficit reduction strategies appears on track toward Senate votes this weekend.
The money would also be used to provide free vaccinations for seniors, who now are among the few not guaranteed free access, according to a summary document.The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own. A late addition pushed by Sinema and other Democrats in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado would designate $4 billion to combat a mega-drought in the West, including conservation efforts in the Colorado River Basin, which nearly 40 million American rely on for drinking water.
The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise some $258 billion over the decade. The lower drug prices for seniors are paid for with savings from Medicare's negotiations with the drug companies.To win over Sinema, Democrats dropped plans to close a tax loophole long enjoyed by wealthier Americans — the so-called "carried interest," which under current law taxes wealthy hedge fund managers and others at a 20% rate.