Passing the Inflation Reduction Act
Dear Friend,
This week, I voted for the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of prescription drugs, extend health coverage for millions, and make an historic investment in combating the climate crisis and lowering energy costs, all paid for by closing loopholes so that billionaire corporations finally pay their minimum share of income tax. I also secured a $76 million investment in Memphis transit; introduced legislation to honor Reverend James M. Lawson; urged the USDA to enforce horse protections as the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebrations begins in the coming weeks; announced grants from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences; and offered a weekly health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see what I'm doing as it happens.
Passing the Inflation Reduction Act
Securing $76.3 Million Investment in Memphis Transit
Introducing Legislation to Honor Reverend James M. Lawson
Urging USDA to Enforce Horse Protections
Announcing Grants from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences
Passing the Inflation Reduction Act
Following nearly a year of hard-fought negotiations, the House passed historic legislation to lower costs for American families and build back a cleaner, fairer and more prosperous tomorrow. The Inflation Reduction Act is a landmark piece of legislation, which President Biden will soon sign into law. It will:
- Lower prescription drug costs: Reins in the soaring cost of prescription drugs by finally allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with pharmaceuticals, requiring Medicare rebates from drug manufacturers increasing prices faster than inflation, capping annual out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses for Medicare beneficiaries, and capping the cost of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries at no more than $35 a month.
- Lower health care costs: Saves about 13 million Americans an average of $800 per year on their health care premiums by extending the American Rescue Plan's enhanced ACA subsidies through 2025.
- Lower energy costs and historic climate action: Makes the largest-ever American investment in climate, clean energy, environmental justice and domestic energy production and manufacturing. It will position us to meet our climate goals by reducing our carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, while also creating good paying jobs, strengthening our energy security, advancing environmental justice at an historic scale and lowering energy costs by hundreds of dollars per year for American families.
- Lower the deficit by ensuring large corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share: Fully funded and reduces the deficit by $300 billion by instituting a 15 percent minimum tax rate on the largest corporations, enacting a 1 percent tax on tax-evading stock buybacks used to enrich wealthy shareholders, funding the IRS to go after wealthy tax evaders and corporations, and cracking down on Big Pharma price gouging.
The Inflation Reduction Act is an historic monumental law that adds to a string of Democratic victories for the people. So far this Congress, President Biden and the Democrats also passed laws including comprehensive public funding and COVID relief packages, the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to support economic growth, increase labor participation, and enhance U.S. competitiveness, the CHIPS and Science Act to turbocharge American innovation and manufacturing, the Honoring Our PACT Act to extend health coverage to millions of veterans, support for Ukraine, and the first major gun safety reform laws in decades. In the House, Democrats have also passed legislation to protect voting rights, abortion access, marriage equality and public safety. We hope to advance these and other bills through the evenly divided Senate.
I believe this Congress could go down in history as one of the most consequential for American families since Roosevelt's New Deal.
Securing $76.3 Million Investment in Memphis Transit
On Thursday, I announced that we were successful in securing $76.43 million in federal funding for MATA, including $54 million for new buses and a new maintenance facility and $22.3 million for transitioning to clean electric buses and purchasing charging equipment for the Crosstown Corridor Connector. See my statement on this transformative transit investment here.
Introducing Legislation to Honor Reverend James M. Lawson
On Tuesday, I co-led the introduction of legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Reverend James Lawson, a living legend of the Civil Rights Movement and former pastor of the Centenary United Methodist Church in Memphis. Dr. King called him "the leading theorist and strategist of non-violence." We plan to reintroduce this bill every Congress until it passes. See my release here.
Urging USDA to Enforce Horse Protections
As we near the start of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville on August 24, I led a bipartisan letter with my co-leads on the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to vigorously enforce the Horse Protection Act. See more on the letter here.
Announcing Grants from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences
This week, I announced two grants from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences, one for the University of Memphis to research enzymatic reactions and the other for Serenity Recovery Centers' treatment services for pregnant and postpartum women. See those releases here and here.
Weekly Health Tip
As of August 9, there are nine presumptive cases of monkeypox in Shelby County and 55 cases statewide in Tennessee. My office has been in contact with the Shelby County Health Department and the Tennessee Department of Health regarding the outbreak and the availability of tests and vaccines in our area.
Due to the limited supply of vaccines, they are currently being limited to known and presumed contacts of infected individuals. However, testing capacity for monkeypox is not an issue in Shelby County, and tests are readily available through primary care physicians, clinicians, and providers. I encourage anyone who suspects they are infected with or were exposed to the virus to contact their primary care physician or health care provider.
For additional information about monkeypox, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website and the Tennessee Department of Health website.
Quote of the Week
"To Americans who've lost faith that Congress can do big things, this bill is for you.
To seniors who've faced the indignity of rationing medications or skipping them altogether, this bill is for you.
And to the tens of millions of young Americans who have spent years marching, rallying, demanding that Congress act on climate change, this bill is for you!"
– Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Inflation Reduction Act
As always, I remain.
Most sincerely,
Steve Cohen
Member of Congress