Rep. Neguse Votes for Inflation Reduction Act, Bill Now Heads to President's Desk for Signature

Statement

Today, Congressman Joe Neguse voted in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the new Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Reconciliation package that passed the Senate on Sunday, August 7th. This historic bill is the single-largest investment in climate action in American history, including significant investments in American clean energy production, incentivizes scientific research, bolsters wildfire response, improves wildlife recovery, and provides $4 billion in funding for the Bureau of Reclamation to combat drought in the West. The legislation could save Americans an average of $1,800 a year on their energy bills, and will also lower health care costs and boost American manufacturing.

Rep. Neguse worked to secure $5 billion for forest and reforestation investments and wildfire mitigation (which were part of his legislation, the 21st Century Conservation Corps Act, HR 1162), as well as another provision to invest $2 billion in scientific labs across the country.

"This bill is a tremendous win for our nation, and for hardworking American families across the country. The Inflation Reduction Act will lower healthcare costs, fight inflation, and help our nation make significant headway in the fight against climate change. I was proud to support this important legislation, and look forward to the President signing the bill into law." said Congressman Neguse.

The bill invests approximately $300 billion in Deficit Reduction and $369 billion in Energy Security and Climate Change programs over the next ten years, lowers prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, lowers health care premiums for millions of Americans, and makes a historic investment in domestic energy production and manufacturing with the goal of reducing emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 makes significant investments in Neguse-Led Programs, specifically those of importance to the people of Colorado, including:

$5 Billion to protect communities from wildfires while combating the climate crisis and supporting the workforce through climate-smart forestry.

Investing in forest health projects on both public and private lands and equipping firefighters and rural communities to be more resilient to wildfire.

Investing in climate-smart forestry to boost carbon sequestration.

Supporting healthy, fire-resilient forests, forest conservation, and urban tree planting.

$2 Billion for National Labs to accelerate breakthrough energy and climate research.

$250 Million for wildlife recovery and to restore units of the National Wildlife Refuge System and state wildlife management areas.

Restoring habitats to mitigate the impacts of climate-induced weather events and increasing resiliency to benefit wildlife and surrounding communities.

The bill lowers health care costs by:

Capping Medicare patients' out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year, with the option to break that amount into affordable monthly payments.

Stabilizing Part D premiums for seniors in Medicare --so insurers and manufacturers can't pass their new financial burdens on to seniors.

Providing free vaccines for seniors. Finally making all vaccines free in Medicare for seniors -- the only population for which vaccines were not already free.

Extending provisions from the American Rescue Plan to keep health coverage accessible and affordable for three additional years -- protecting affordable insurance for approximately 13 million Americans.

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