By Paul LeBlanc, CNN
Democrats’ push to advance their energy and health care bill is likely headed for a procedural speed bump known in Washington as a “vote-a-rama.”
The time-consuming and stamina-challenging process is among the final obstacles for Democrats, along with the Senate parliamentarian’s review of the package.
Politically, a vote-a-rama gives Republicans a chance to sow discord and create distractions as they force Democrats to vote on controversial issues. But, once it’s over, Democrats have the opportunity to advance their package on a straight party-line vote that would not be subject to the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is a vote-a-rama?
Usually in the legislative process, lawmakers can use a series of procedural maneuvers to avoid voting on amendments. But in a budget reconciliation process — which Democrats are using to advance their bill — you can’t do that.
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Lawmakers cannot hold a final vote on a reconciliation bill until all the amendments have been “disposed of,” or in simpler terms, “voted on.”
The practice involves votes on a series of amendments that can — and usually do — stretch for hours.
How do lawmakers use the process?
The party in charge typically wants to move this vote-a-rama along as quickly as possible with as few votes as possible. The minority party takes the opportunity to force votes on all kinds of measures they don’t typically have the power to put on the floor.
How long does each vote take?
Usually, lawmakers agree to a process that looks a lot like this.
Lawmaker introduces an amendment (sometimes it is just written on a piece of paper).
There is a minute of debate equally divided by each side.
Each amendment takes about 15 minutes or so to get through. The process moves quickly by Senate standards, which is why it is so important for members to basically stay in or close by the chamber for the entire marathon event.
What’s in the bill?
The bill contains a number of Democrats’ goals, including some provisions that party leaders have worked toward for years:
- Medicare drug price negotiation. The bill would empower Medicare to negotiate prices of certain costly medications administered in doctors’ offices or purchased at the pharmacy.
- inflation cap. The legislation would also impose penalties on drug companies if they increase their prices faster than inflation.
- Tax provisions. To boost revenue, the bill would impose a 15% minimum tax on corporations, which would raise $313 billion over a decade.
- Climate provisions. The deal would be the biggest climate investment in US history. It would slash US carbon emissions 40% by 2030, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said.
Still, this isn’t Build Back Better 2.0. The package is less than half the size of Biden’s original social safety net plan, and a number of key Democratic priorities are likely to be left out.
What’s in, and out, of Democrats’ inflation-fighting package
Intro
What started as a $4 trillion effort during President Joe Biden’s first months in office to rebuild America’s public infrastructure and family support systems has ended up a much slimmer, but not unsubstantial, compromised package of inflation-fighting health care, climate change and deficit reduction strategies that appears headed toward quick votes in Congress.
Lawmakers are poring over the $739 billion proposal struck by two top negotiators, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and holdout Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who rejected Biden’s earlier drafts but surprised colleagues late Wednesday with a new one.
What’s in, and out, of the Democrats’ 725-page “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” as it stands now:
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Lower prescription drug costs
Launching a long-sought goal, the bill would allow the Medicare program to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, saving the federal government some $288 billion over the 10-year budget window.
Those new revenues would be put back into lower costs for seniors on medications, including a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for older adults buying prescriptions from pharmacies.
Money would also be used to provide free vaccinations for seniors, who now are among the few not guaranteed free access, according to a summary document.
AP file
Help pay for health insurance
The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own.
Under earlier pandemic relief, the extra help was set to expire this year. But the bill would allow the assistance to keep going for three more years, lowering insurance premiums for people who are purchasing their own health care policies.
AP file
‘Single biggest investment in climate change in US history’
The bill would invest $369 billion over the decade in climate change-fighting strategies including investments in renewable energy production and tax rebates for consumers to buy new or used electric vehicles.
It’s broken down to include $60 billion for a clean energy manufacturing tax credit and $30 billion for a production tax credit for wind and solar, seen as ways to boost and support the industries that can help curb the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
For consumers, there are tax breaks as incentives to go green. One is a 10-year consumer tax credit for renewable energy investments in wind and solar. There are tax breaks for buying electric vehicles, including a $4,000 tax credit for purchase of used electric vehicles and $7,500 for new ones.
In all, Democrats believe the strategy could put the country on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030, and “would represent the single biggest climate investment in US history, by far.”
AP file
How to pay for all of this?
The biggest revenue-raiser in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than $1 billion in annual profits.
It’s a way to clamp down on some 200 US companies that avoid paying the standard 21% corporate tax rate, including some that end up paying no taxes at all.
The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise some $313 billion over the decade.
Money is also raised by boosting the IRS to go after tax cheats. The bill proposes an $80 billion investment in taxpayer services, enforcement and modernization, which is projected to raise $203 billion in new revenue — a net gain of $124 billion over the decade.
The bill sticks with Biden’s original pledge not to raise taxes on families or businesses making less than $400,000 a year.
The lower drug prices for seniors are paid for with savings from Medicare’s negotiations with the drug companies.
AP file
Extra money to pay down deficits
With $739 billion in new revenue and some $433 billion in new investments, the bill promises to put the difference toward deficit reduction.
Federal deficits have spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal spending soared and tax revenues fell as the nation’s economy churned through shutdowns, closed offices and other massive changes.
The nation has seen deficits rise and fall in recent years. But overall federal budgeting is on an unsustainable path, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which put out a new report this week on long-term projections.
AP file
What’s left behind?
This latest package after 18 months of start-stop negotiations leaves behind many of Biden’s more ambitious goals.
While Congress did pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill of highway, broadband and other investments that Biden signed into law last year, the president’s and the party’s other priorities have slipped away.
Among them, a continuation of a $300 monthly child tax credit that was sending money directly to families during the pandemic and is believed to have widely reduced child poverty.
Also gone, for now, are plans for free pre-kindergarten and free community college, as well as the nation’s first paid family leave program that would have provided up to $4,000 a month for births, deaths and other pivotal needs.
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
AP file
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