IFPTE Urges House Passage of Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
As the House of Representatives prepares to take up consideration of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, H.R. 5376, IFTPE urged Representatives to pass this important legislation that supports IFPTE priorities, including energy investments that will significantly reduce carbon emissions, support union jobs in energy and manufacturing, and make sure corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
The Inflation Reduction Act was already passed by the Senate and House passage will send the legislation to the White House for President Biden to sign.
IFPTE’s letter to Representatives notes that the legislation allows Tennessee Valley Authority, where the Engineering Association-IFPTE Local 1937 represents over 2,000 TVA professionals, to “benefit from clean energy investment and production incentives that other utilities and companies have had access to.” TVA and public utilities as well as privately-owned utilities such as PG&E will benefit from the extension and expansion of these incentives that move the U.S. energy sector toward carbon neutrality. The energy provisions in the bill are expected to result in a 40% reduction in the nation’s carbon emissions by 2030.
Other key provisions in the bill include fair taxation policies that “large corporations and multinational firms – including those that currently pay little to no federal income taxes in some years – pay at least 15% tax, which is around the average tax rate paid by individuals.” The Inflation Reduction Act also includes a 1% excise tax on corporate stock buybacks.
The legislation also allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries and control drug price inflation for seniors. While these provisions do not apply to people insured by private insurance or employer health plans, IFPTE is committed to expanding prescription drug affordability to all working Americans.