Legislation will tax billionaire corporations to enact historic change
Silver Spring, MD – Calling it a victory for working people, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is applauding the House of Representatives passage of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act. The Senate passed the legislation earlier this week.
The legislation will bring historic change by reducing our deficit, fighting inflation, reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and creating nine million good jobs over the next decade. The bill will be paid almost entirely by new tax increases on large corporations.
“This bill will positively impact working people in very real ways,” said ATU International President John Costa. “By creating millions of good-paying jobs here in America, lowering energy and healthcare costs, protecting our planet, and changing our tax system with big corporations finally paying their fair share, this legislation is an incredible step forward in our pursuit for economic and environmental justice.”
The bill will allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, preventing millions of Americans from seeing considerable increases in their health insurance. The bill will also invest approximately $300 billion in deficit reduction and $369 billion in energy security and climate change. Some of the world’s most lucrative companies with at least $1 billion in net income will see an end to a decades-long trend of protecting their profits from federal income taxes to fund the bill.
“President Biden pledged to give working people more affordable and accessible healthcare, prescriptions, energy, and to fight climate change to ensure a habitable planet to live on. This bill will help accomplish that,” said Costa. “We want to thank Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the Democratic majority in Congress for persisting throughout this process to bring this win home. This vote shows that despite opposition, Congress can still get things done on behalf of the American people.”