Once the legislation passes the Senate, it must then be approved by the House of Representatives before President Joe Biden can sign it into law.
What happens next?
After the procedural vote to proceed with the bill, the Senate went into debate before proceeding to the “vote-a-rama.” The marathon series of votes on amendments without a time limit must continue before the final vote takes place. Republicans can use “vote-a-rama” to put Democrats on the spot and force politically tough votes, and votes on contentious policy issues are expected. Senators widely expect Republicans to try to kill the insulin provisions included in the Senate Democrats’ climate and health care bill during the “a-rama vote,” which would also force Senate Rep. to decide in real time whether it is correct. to remain in the account. These provisions would cap insulin prices at $35 in the private insurance market as well as through Medicare. According to a Democratic aide, the congressman ruled that the cap on insulin in the private insurance market was inconsistent with the reconciliation. Democrats were not surprised by her decision on the private market cap, but hope the Medicare insulin cap will stay in, according to the aide. But either way, the aide said, Democrats will keep both insulin provisions in the bill as they move forward — daring the GOP to move and try to beat them on the Senate floor. The House is set to return to take up the legislation on Friday, August 12, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office.
How Democrats Plan to Pass Sweeping Legislation
Senate Democrats need only a simple majority to finally pass the bill, using a process known as reconciliation, which allows them to avoid a Republican filibuster and the corresponding 60-vote threshold. However, for a bill to pass through the reconciliation process, the package must adhere to a strict set of fiscal rules. The Senate lawmaker must decide whether the bill’s provisions meet the rules to allow Democrats to use the budget process to pass legislation along straight party lines. Schumer announced Saturday that after the House’s review, the bill “remains largely intact.” “The bill, when passed, will accomplish all of our goals — fighting climate change, lowering health care costs, closing tax loopholes abused by the wealthy and reducing the deficit,” the New York Democrat said. In a key decision, Rep. Elizabeth MacDonough allowed a key component of Democrats’ prescription drug pricing plans to go forward — giving Medicare the power to negotiate the prices of some prescription drugs for the first time. But MacDonough scaled back another provision intended to lower drug prices — penalizing drug companies if they raise their prices faster than inflation. Democrats wanted the measure to apply to both Medicare and the private insurance market. But the lawmaker ruled the inflation cap could only apply to Medicare, a Democratic aide said. Meanwhile, MacDonough decided to keep intact several climate measures from the Environment and Public Works Committee in the reconciliation bill, including a methane tax that would apply to oil and gas producers who leak the powerful greenhouse gas methane above a certain limit. Earlier Saturday, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon announced that the clean energy tax portion of the bill “conforms to Senate rules and important provisions to ensure America’s clean energy future is built have been approved by the deputy”.
How the bill addresses the climate crisis
For a party that failed to pass major climate legislation 10 years ago, the reconciliation bill represents a major, long-term victory for Democrats. The nearly $370 billion clean energy and climate package is the largest climate investment in US history and the biggest win for the environmental movement since the landmark Clean Air Act. It also comes at a critical time; This summer has seen punishing heat waves and deadly floods across the country, which scientists say are linked to a warming planet. The analysis by Schumer’s office — as well as several independent analyzes — suggests the measures would cut U.S. carbon emissions by as much as 40 percent by 2030. It would take strong climate regulations from the Biden administration and action by states to meet Biden’s goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030. The bill also contains several tax incentives intended to lower the cost of electricity with more renewable energy and encourage more American consumers to switch to electricity to power their homes and vehicles. Lawmakers said the bill represents a monumental victory and is also just the beginning of what is needed to combat the climate crisis. “It’s not about the laws of politics, it’s about the laws of physics,” Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii told CNN. “We all knew going into this effort that we had to do what the science tells us what to do.”
Basic health care and tax policy in the bill
The bill would authorize Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain expensive drugs that are dispensed at doctor’s offices or bought at the pharmacy. The Health and Human Services secretary would negotiate the prices of 10 drugs in 2026 and another 15 drugs in 2027 and again in 2028. The number would increase to 20 drugs per year for 2029 and beyond. That controversial provision is much more limited than what House Democratic leaders have previously advocated. But it would open the door to fulfilling a longtime party goal of allowing Medicare to use its weight to lower drug costs. Democrats also plan to extend enhanced federal premium subsidies for Obamacare coverage through 2025, a year later than lawmakers recently discussed. That way they won’t expire right after the 2024 presidential election. To boost revenue, the bill would impose a minimum tax of 15 percent on the income that big companies report to shareholders, known as accounting income, unlike the Internal Revenue Service. The measure, which would raise $258 billion over a decade, would apply to companies with more than $1 billion in revenue. Worried about how that provision would affect some businesses, especially manufacturers, Sinema suggested he won changes to the Democratic plan to limit how companies can deduct depreciated assets on their taxes. Details remain unclear. But Sinema blasted her party’s bid to close the carried interest loophole, which allows investment managers to treat much of their compensation as capital gains and pay a long-term capital gains tax rate of 20% instead of income tax rates of up to 37%. The provision would have extended the amount of time investment managers must hold their profits from three years to five years to benefit from the lower tax rate. Addressing that gap, which would have raised $14 billion over a decade, has been a long-term goal of congressional Democrats. In its place, a 1 percent excise tax was added on corporate stock buybacks, raising another $74 billion, according to a Democratic aide. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNN’s Jessica Dean, Manu Raju, Ella Nilsen, Tami Luhby, Katie Lobosco and Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.