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WASHINGTON – Democrats in the Texas Congress unveiled a united front on Friday by voting for climate, healthcare and taxes for their party, helping to secure one of the party’s biggest political victories just before the widely anticipated tough mid-term election.
The state’s democrats played a major role in the drafting of the bill, sometimes dismissing the leadership of a party that has gone through numerous bends over the past year. Final legislation could provide substantial cash to the state’s energy sector and provide expansionary benefits to thousands of uninsured and elderly residents in the state. After all, all Texas Democrats voted for the bill while all Republicans in Congress voted to kill it.
The bill has already passed in the Senate and stands next to President Joe Biden, who will sign it.
The act, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, is the country’s largest clean energy investment ever, spending billions of dollars in tax breaks to encourage home energy efficiency technology, purchase of electric vehicles, and investments in renewable energy generation. The law also provides tax incentives to make sure the components of these technologies are manufactured in the US.
Fighting climate change is one of the main goals of Biden’s policy, setting the goal of halving the country’s emissions by 2030, achieving a carbon-neutral energy sector by 2035 and achieving net-zero carbon emissions for the entire economy by 2050 r. Early modeling shows there is a law that cuts emissions by 40% by the end of the decade, meaning that further congressional or regulatory action will be required to meet the goals scientists believe are necessary to avert a climate catastrophe.
Texas is especially vulnerable to extreme weather events such as heatwaves and hurricanes, exacerbated by climate change. The state is also a leader in renewable energy, producing more wind energy than any other country.
The Texas oil and gas industry would also be directly affected by a methane reduction program designed to encourage companies to control runaway emissions. The bill would eventually impose an emissions fee on companies, but offer financial assistance to protect smaller oil and gas operations.
The Permian Basin in Texas is responsible for a large share of the country’s methane emissions, which is more than 25 times more potent in warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Republican August Plfuger, a Republican representing large swaths of Permian, introduced an amendment to lower the methane charge. It didn’t go anywhere.
The Act also allows Medicare to negotiate certain prescription drug costs – although the benefits would not be immediate – and extends the Affordable Act to an estimated 1.8 million Texans. It also sets up $ 2,000 out of its own pocket annually for Medicaid beneficiaries, which would affect nearly 106,000 Texans, said Tina Tran, Texas state director at AARP.
“It has been our federal priority for years and we have lined up as much as we can,” said Tran. “Now, after the law is passed, we will continue to work on the pricing of prescription drugs.”
The law would also introduce a minimum tax of 15% on domestic corporate profits and expand IRS enforcement to reduce the deficit.
The last days before the vote in the House were already filled with Democrats celebrating the bill as a huge victory. As members returned home for recess, they touted the package to voters and swore they would take on more agenda items if voters allowed them to retain a majority in the House and Senate next year.
“This bill is of great importance at the kitchen table of American families,” California president Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter to MPs on Wednesday. “Those of us who have fought for more family law in Reconciliation from the beginning know that we can never give up this fight – and we will continue it in future laws.”
But behind the scenes, the effort to convince members is not over yet. A handful of Texas Democrats kept their position on the bill secret, including two moderates from southern Texas, US officials. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez. Both represent regions densely populated by workers in the oil and gas industry, and both have expressed concerns about legislation that would impose a fine on methane charges in the sector.
Cuellar finally made a statement in support of the bill on Thursday morning, writing: “No design is perfect. However, compromise, common sense and rising above party politics to make a meaningful and sustainable change is our duty as legislator. “
Gonzalez kept his voice secret until the last moment. He eventually voted in favor of the bill, saying it was “far from perfect” but “reducing energy and healthcare costs for South Texas families.”
“Many have raised concerns about the laws governing domestic energy production. I can assure you that I have worked and are still working so that this law does not prevent the United States from leading the world in responsible oil and gas production, “he wrote in a statement.
And Austin’s progressive representative Lloyd Doggett has expressed dissatisfaction with how far the bill is moving towards progressive priorities later this week, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Doggett told colleagues just before the hiatus that he would have voted against the bill if it did not contain legislation to close the medical coverage gap, US representative Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, told the Tribune. This is an issue that directly affects Texas, which has repeatedly chosen not to expand its medical aid program.
Doggett wrote a letter last month to Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, saying: “We cannot afford to go home without doing something to help those who have been left behind and left behind for so long.” All the Texas Democrats in the House signed the letter.
The bill has turned out to be a long way from the gigantic $ 3.5 trillion Democrats they originally proposed last year. US Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, canceled most of the bill, citing concerns over inflation and opposing provisions that favored zero-emission energy compared to fossil fuels. The energy-focused Democrats on the Texas delegation also worked to make the bill more beneficial to their oil and gas interests.
One of the biggest things that could be reduced was the child tax credit, the civilian climate service, a universal insulin price cap, and aid for a state-run kindergarten. And while centrists protested the bill for more liberal spending items, progressives also threatened last year to refuel a massive, cross-party infrastructure bill to force the club to move forward with an aggressive social spending bill.
But after more than a year of starts and stops, high expectations and shattered hopes, a strong sense of negotiation fatigue and a deep desire to win an important legislative victory on Biden’s desk before election day won the entire club, even if members have said so. did not go far enough or contained supplies that they did not like.
“No account is perfect. There are things I would like to continue to include in this final package, ”said House Rules chairman Bill McGovern, D-Mass. at Wednesday’s Friday voting hearing. “But you know what? We can’t make perfect the enemy of good. And that’s a big deal. The Inflation Reduction Act makes transformative investments. This is the strongest possible version of this law that could hit the president’s desk.”
AARP president Jo Ann Jenkins sent a letter to members on Tuesday urging them to vote in favor of the bill, and Voters League president Gene Karpiński sent a similar letter on Wednesday. Both groups actively collaborated with members of Congress in drafting and developing the bill.
Karpiński raised the stakes in his letter, promising to use members’ vote when calculating the LCV 2022 scorecard. Typically, policy-suggestion letters say that the group will only consider using votes in its scoring.
Meanwhile, many of the country’s largest oil and gas interest groups wrote to members urging them to “review policy within the framework of legislation before proceeding.” Several members from Texas are particularly closely associated with oil interest groups, and their contacts shaped the energy regulations. The final bill turned out to be much more generous to the industry, including the sale of a sea lease in the Gulf of Mexico and over $ 1 billion in funds to help companies reduce methane emissions.
Republicans have also challenged the regulations extending the financing of the IRS, describing it as creating an aggressive enforcement apparatus. Democrats denounce this characterization as total fiction, saying the funds would go to bureaucratic needs.
“If Green New Deal and corporate social services had a baby, it would be like this,” said US representative Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, on the House floor. Brady is an outgoing member of the ranking of the powerful Committee on Measures and Resources.
US representative Chip Roy, R-Austin, urged fellow Republicans to withdraw funds from the bill’s programs entirely and repeal it if their party takes control of Congress next year.
No speeches. No more questioning, ”said Roy Fox News. “Come on day one and tell me we’re going to shut down this government. Close it. “
Disclosure: AARP financially supports The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, non-party information organization that is partially funded by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the journalism of the Tribune. You can find a full list of them here.
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