Senate Passage of Inflation Reduction Act Improves Working People’s Lives

With today’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Democrats have taken action that will improve working people’s lives by lowering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors on Medicare and cap their out-of-pocket expenses for medication. The IRA will extend the Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies to prevent millions of Americans from seeing substantial increases in health insurance. And it invests in our green energy future, creating hundreds of thousands of good, green manufacturing and construction jobs that will lower energy costs and help save our climate.

The Inflation Reduction Act begins to bring more balance to our tax code through a 15% minimum tax on large corporations to ensure that instead of gaming the system to boost profits they will pay their fair share. It also establishes a one percent tax on stock buybacks which corporations use to inflate the profits of wealthy shareholders instead of investing in their products and their workers.

These changes are welcome and long overdue, and are only possible because of the persistence of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democratic majority in the Senate in finding ways to make progress despite outdated filibuster rules that allow the Republican minority to block most legislation. But there is much left to be done, and that is why CWA members are focused on electing candidates in November who will get rid of the filibuster and fight for policies that build our economy by supporting working families and make it easier for workers to join unions.

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