Climate change, health care and corporate tax bills advance some of the key promises President Joe Biden campaigned for in 2020. ever.
The bill is expected to receive Biden’s signature soon. It was passed only by a Democrat vote in the 50-50 Senate under the special rule of simple majority. The House voted him 220 to 207 in a similar partisan vote five days later.
Barring any surprises, the bill will likely be the last major piece of legislation Mr. Biden can sign before the November midterm elections. And if Republicans take control of either or both Houses in the midterm elections, the bill could be Biden’s last chance to implement any of the items that require Congressional approval.
We’ve tracked progress or lack of progress on Biden’s key campaign promises, as we’ve done with Presidents Barack Obama and President Donald Trump. Biden’s pledges that we monitor are rated as being kept, conceded, underway, stalled, or broken.
Here’s an overview of what the Inflation Reduction Act offers for Biden’s campaign agenda, and where it falls short.
Bill-backed Promise
High Climate Spending Drives Net-Zero Commitment
Biden’s key climate goals seemed out of reach until a landmark deal was struck at the end of July. Senator Joe Manchin, DW. Virginia and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) have agreed to a clean energy package that will cost him $369 billion over 10 years.
The bill provides $260 billion in clean energy tax credits to encourage investment in solar, wind, hydro and other renewable energy. For homes, we offer consumer rebates to help cover the cost of installing heat pumps and solar panels. Low- and middle-income households can apply for a tax credit of $4,000 for the purchase of a used electric car. We are spending more than $20 billion to support agricultural practices that reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Independent researchers say that by 2030, the bill’s measures will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% below 2005 emissions levels. US pledges under the Paris Climate Agreement.
The bill “does about two-thirds of the remaining work needed to close the gap between current policies and the country’s 2030 climate goals,” said Princeton University’s Zero Lab.
For the United States to reach its net-zero target, the point at which greenhouse gas emissions and capture are balanced, it must first meet its 2030 target.
Researchers say the United States has the potential to reach net zero by 2050, but it’s not guaranteed.
This significant improvement in promise is enough to move it from in-progress to promise-fulfilled.
Medicare can negotiate drug prices
The bill fulfills Biden’s key healthcare promise by establishing Medicare’s right to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies for some medicines.
For decades, America’s mandatory health insurance programs for seniors lack the power to negotiate drug prices, leading to higher costs than in other developed countries.
Under the bill, beginning in 2026, the federal government will be able to negotiate the price of 10 drugs covered by Medicare Part D, the outpatient prescription drug use benefit. Extends coverage beyond Medicare Part D.
The list does not include brand new drugs. Drugs must have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for several years.
In addition, Part D beneficiary copays are capped at $2,000 annually.
This promise transitions from ‘in progress’ to ‘promise fulfilled’.
corporate tax compromise
As a candidate, Biden proposed raising the federal tax rate on businesses from 21% to 28%, with “wealthy Americans and big corporations paying their fair share.”
But after backlash in Congress, Biden pursued a different approach. Under the Senate bill, it is poised to increase taxes on some of the nation’s biggest companies, though not in the uniform way Biden envisioned.
A new minimum 15% tax on a company’s “book income” (usually the amount a company reports to investors) for three consecutive years of profits exceeding $1 billion. will be faced.
This provision will take effect for tax years beginning on or after December 31, 2022, and if a company reports large profits to its investors, reporting a smaller profit for tax purposes will also benefit the system. is intended to prevent manipulation of
Although the provisions passed in the bill target “big business,” they differ significantly in scope and manner from what Biden promised during his campaign.
“The minimum tax rate is a parallel tax that a company may or may not be charged in any given year,” said Kyle Pomerloh, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank based in Washington, DC. said.
Promises move from being in progress to being compromised.
Promises delayed or ignored on the bill
No penalties for offshoring
Biden has promised to change tax laws to penalize “offshoring,” or having U.S. companies set up facilities abroad to avoid paying taxes.
Since taking office, he has proposed several tax changes that could affect offshoring, and some of those proposals became the first version of the bill to pass the House in November 2021. . However, corporate tax policy has changed significantly in the latest Senate. version, and offshoring provisions were taken out.
“Some argue that the minimum book tax could affect foreign income,” said Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. “That may be true, but that’s not the primary purpose of that tax, and it won’t necessarily affect decisions about foreign investment in the same way that penalties the president has previously proposed.
This promise goes from progress to stagnation.
No tax credit for childcare
Biden promised to ease the burden of childcare with an $8,000 tax credit, which was not included in the final version of the bill.
Earlier versions of the law would have greatly expanded funding and eligibility for federal childcare assistance. It passed the House, but the Senate decided that Democrats could not agree to such sweeping measures.
“If the Democrats don’t keep the Senate and House, I don’t see a way[to restore it],” Pomerlo said.
This promise goes from progress to stagnation.
No Universal Preschool
Biden promised to provide all kindergartens for children ages 3 and 4. As his agenda moved forward, the idea went through several iterations but was not included in the final bill passed by Congress.
Biden’s original proposal called for $200 billion in investment in partnership with states. This ensures “a low student-teacher ratio, a high-quality, developmentally appropriate curriculum, and a supportive classroom environment in which all students can participate.” The version passed by the House of Representatives included provisions for universal kindergartens.
Promise moves from In the Works to Stalled.
Paid family leave and no medical leave
Biden aimed to create a national paid family and medical leave program that would allow all employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave. The United States is the only developed country in the world that does not have a paid family system and a medical leave system that guarantees workers compensation when they take maternity leave.
After being first negotiated from the House version of Biden’s proposed “Build Back Better” appropriations bill framework, the provision has been reinstated, albeit in a more limited form than Biden had envisioned. The bill passed by the House included four weeks of annual family and medical leave.
However, in the Senate, a handful of Democrats, who had gathered the support necessary to pass the bill, opposed the bill’s scope.
Promise moves from In the Works to Stalled.
Affordable housing funds have been severely deprived
Democrats have long sought to increase investment in affordable housing, but that goal got lost in the final version of the Senate bill.
Early legislation included billions of dollars in affordable housing. But Will Fischer, senior director of housing and research at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said the final version contained only about $1 billion related to affordable housing, all of which was energy efficient. said to be related to This funding is for energy and water efficiency and climate change resilience in federally subsidized housing, benefiting virtually all renters.
The National Association of Home Builders expressed disappointment at the drastic drop in the bill’s housing provisions.
“Americans are being squeezed hard as home prices and rents rise faster than inflation, interest rates rise, and both entry-level owner-occupied housing and affordable rental housing are in short supply. “Rent inflation rose at its fastest pace since 1986 in June, but the bill also included measures to expand the supply of housing, including much-needed affordable rental housing,” the association said. Contains no resources.”
The American relief plan Biden signed into law in early 2021 included nearly $50 billion in housing and helping the homeless, but that was mostly for temporary emergencies.
Promise moves from In the Works to Stalled.
Related: All fact-checking on climate change
Related: President Joe Biden on Truth-O-Meter
