Sen. Kyrsten Sinema offered her support for President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda on
Thursday, after party leaders agreed to change new tax proposals at her request. This
is a huge win for senate democrats who managed to secure Sinema’s support for a
modified signature climate, tax and health care proposal, which will move forward on the
legislation on Sunday.
The Arizona Democrat said she signed off on the legislation after “winning tweaks” that
include the removal of a narrowed loophole for taxation of certain investment income,
known as carried interest. Sinema said she also won changes that would “protect
advanced manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy.”
“We have agreed to remove the carried interest tax provision, protect advanced
manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy in the Senate’s budget
reconciliation legislation,” Sinema said in a statement.
Sinema’s support means Democrats will likely have the 50 votes they need in order to
push the bill through their chamber by this weekend, before it moves to the House for
final approval.
The new agreement with Sinema includes a new 1% excise tax on companies’ stock
buybacks, raising another $73 billion, according to a Democrat familiar with the deal.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber would take Friday off as he works to
clarify a timeline for passing Democrats’ bill, which still faces multiple outstanding
issues. Schumer also weaned on Thursday of “some late nights and extended debates”
as he vowed to pass the legislation in the “coming days.”
The agreement preserves the major components of the Inflation Reduction Act,
including reducing prescription drug costs, fighting climate change, closing tax
loopholes exploited by big corporations and the wealthy, and reducing the deficit by
$300 billion,” Schumer said in a statement. “The final version of the Reconciliation bill,
to be introduced on Saturday, will reflect this work and put us one step closer to
enacting this historic legislation into law.”
