WASHINGTON — Arizona Democrat Senator Kirsten Cinema said Thursday night that a major piece of President Biden’s domestic agenda would pave the way for passage through the Senate, advancing the party’s climate, tax and health packages. announced its support. The next few days.
To gain Mr. Cinema’s support, Democratic leaders dropped a $14 billion tax increase for some wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives, which Mr. Cinema opposed, and a 15% tax cut for corporations. Agreed to change the structure of the minimum tax rate to include drought funds. Arizona.
Cinema said he was ready to go ahead with the package if the Senate’s top ruler approved it.
Cinema was the last standout in the package after Democratic Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia struck a deal last week with top Democrats to revive a plan that seemed to fall apart.
That brings Democrats one step closer to enacting a package and salvaging key pieces of the domestic agenda, starting with a series of votes this weekend. After Mr. Manchin and majority leader New York Sen. Chuck Schumer agreed to put a multi-billion dollar climate and energy plan and tax hikes into law, he surprised his colleagues. More than a week has passed. Proposals to reduce prescription drug prices and increase health insurance subsidies.
With Republicans uniting against it, the party cannot afford even one defection because it requires the unanimous support of Democrats to move forward in the 50-50 Senate.
In a statement, Mr. Schumer confirmed that a deal had been reached that he “believes to have the support of the entire Senate Democratic Conference.” He said the revised law will be announced on Saturday.
“The agreement “Inflation-cutting measures include cutting prescription drug costs, fighting climate change, closing tax loopholes used by big business and the wealthy, and reducing deficits.” The deal “brings us one step closer to enacting this historic law.”
Biden urged the Senate to pass the bill quickly, hailing the deal as “another important step toward reducing inflation and the cost of living for American families.”
Cinema has argued for the removal of provisions that limit tax breaks on income earned by some wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives. Instead, Democrats have added a new 1% excise tax that companies must pay on the amount of their share buybacks, according to one Democratic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and gave details of the plan.
The provision would ensure that the federal deficit would be cut by as much as $300 billion, officials said.
Democrats also agreed to Mr. Cinema’s request to spend billions of dollars on drought relief, according to officials briefed on the new plan. They were expected to restructure the minimum 15% tax on businesses to ease the burden on manufacturers. Earlier this week, Arizona business leaders appealed directly to Cinema to streamline its proposal.
“Manufacturers are concerned that this bill will stifle new treatments and cures,” said Jay Timmons, president and chief executive of the National Association of Manufacturers. on Twitter“We are skeptical and will review the revised law carefully,” he added.
When the deal Manchin struck with Schumer was announced last week, most Democrats immediately rallied to win her vote.
Even when she fought over an unusually bipartisan margin on Thursday, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge she supported — secured the support of about 20 Republicans — Mr. Cinema was being lobbied from both sides of the aisle. She and Mr. Manchin huddled in the room at one point and spoke in soft voices.
An enigmatic centrist, Cinema had already forced the party to abandon plans to overhaul much of the tax code, and her characteristic silence had frustrated Democrats trying to take up the bill. After hearing she supported the bill, several Democratic senators and her aides celebrated, confident that final passage was within reach.
“We are trying to pass a ridiculously necessary and popular law,” Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat, declared, adding, “It’s happening.
Schumer said he plans to hold a test vote on the bill on Saturday afternoon and will avoid going out for the five-week recess in August when the Senate is scheduled to complete its work on the bill. I was.
The package must clear a series of hurdles before it can be passed by the Senate. Democrats use an arcane budget adjustment process to protect the bill from filibuster, so it must be blessed by senators to ensure its elements adhere to the strict rules governing the process. . The process is expected to continue on Friday, with further changes in readings possible if certain parts are deemed faulty.
Cinema has left room for policy changes if these changes raise concerns, and said he would proceed with the bill “subject to parliamentary review.”
Republicans will have an opportunity this weekend to try to force changes before the bill is finally passed in a series of amendment ballots known as the Vote Alama. If all Republicans attend, all 50 of his senators who attend the caucuses alongside the Democrats must unite and uphold the law as it is written.
Cinema said in a statement that he would work with Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner to consider another bill to address preferential tax treatment of hedge fund income. “Our focus will be on closing the most pernicious loopholes we exploit to avoid paying taxes, while protecting investments in the U.S. economy and fostering continued growth,” she said.
But doing so outside of the settlement bill would require 60 votes to overcome Republican filibusters, and it’s unlikely that enough Republican senators would be on board to make it possible.
Allan Lapeport contributed to the report.