Joe Biden just signed $700bn climate, tax and health bill into law

• $700 billion (£579 billion) plan, approved by US President Joe Biden.
• 375 billion programme is largest federal investment ever made in the battle against climate change.
• Proposes to combat climate change and healthcare expenses while raising taxes primarily on the wealthy.

A $700 billion (£579 billion) plan, approved by US President Joe Biden, proposes to combat climate change and healthcare expenses while raising taxes primarily on the wealthy.

The legislation includes provisions to carry out decades-old congressional commitments to lower prescription drug costs.

The $3.5 trillion programme originally envisioned by Democrats has a smaller scope in the final proposal.

The plan, a centrepiece of Vice President Biden’s agenda, might help gain support before the midterm elections.

Whether Democrats of Mr. Joe Biden  keep control of Congress for another two years will be decided by voters who cast ballots in November.

As he signed the legislation on Tuesday, the president lauded it as the “last component” of his domestic agenda.

The $375 billion programme is the largest federal investment ever made in the battle against climate change.

According to a study by scientists with the Climate Action Tracker, the law will “not a lot, but not insignificantly either” limit future global warming.

In comparison to the present US trajectory, which would result in a reduction in emissions of up to 35%, it is anticipated to reduce US emissions by as much as 44% by 2030.

The law does not mandate that businesses decrease their emissions, but it does include tax incentives for businesses to invest in renewable energy and refunds for consumers who purchase electric cars or make investments in energy-efficient home modifications.

In a significant development, the bill also enables the government to bargain for lower costs for some prescription drugs covered by Medicare, the government’s health insurance programme for people over 65.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that this will result in savings of hundreds of billions of dollars over the following ten years.

Every Republican in Congress opposed the plan, Mr. Biden said on Tuesday, calling it a “historic moment.” adding: “Every single Republican in Congress voted against this bill.”

However, Mitch McConnell, the head of the Republican Party in the Senate, claimed that the plan “means higher taxes, higher energy bills, and aggressive IRS [tax] audits.”

Examining some of the legislation’s key economic claims.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model, a team of economists and data scientists at University of Pennsylvania, has shown that despite being known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the package will not significantly affect inflation.

Democrats have promised there will be no tax increases for people with incomes under $400,000 per year, while the plan establishes a minimum 15% tax rate for corporations.

Americans making less than $400,000 a year would end up paying an additional $20 billion in taxes, according to a Congressional Budget Office study of the proposed legislation.

To hire thousands more tax agents for the Internal Revenue Service, the package allocates nearly $46 billion.

A dairy farmer from Pennsylvania named Brett Reinford, 36, told the BBC that he was pleased to get climate funds and that he thought it would aid in lowering methane emissions from his family’s cow farm.

“If we can get some support from the government, it makes a lot of these projects make more sense economically,” he said.

Despite the fact that the amount being spent on climate change is extraordinary, many of the changes won’t take place for at least another two years, raising concerns about how the new programmes will function.

For instance, the car industry claims that the tax credit for electric vehicles has pricing restrictions that practically rule out every available choice right now.

Several ambitious ideas, such as removing a tax loophole for private equity corporations and restricting the price of the diabetes medication insulin, were removed from the law in the last few weeks.

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