US House passes bill addressing climate change, drug pricing and corporate taxes News
United States House of Representatives or Office of the Speaker of the House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
US House passes bill addressing climate change, drug pricing and corporate taxes

The US House of Representatives has passed HR 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to send it to President Joe Biden for signing into law. The bill addresses climate change, drug pricing and corporate taxes. The House voted 220-207 to pass the bill.

Last Sunday, the US Senate narrowly passed the bill during a 27-hour weekend “Vote-a-rama” session. The House agreed to the Senate amendment on Friday. The bill contains USD 430 billion in new spending and USD 740 billion in new revenues.

The Act will make investments in green energy, allow Medicare to negotiate more prescription drug prices, cap seniors’ prescription medicine costs, and increase particular minimum corporate tax. Effective at the end of this year, the bill authorizes an alternative minimum 15 percent tax on domestic corporations’ average annual adjusted financial statement income that exceeds USD 1 billion over a specified three-year period. Additionally, the bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs under Medicare beginning in 2026. The bill also modifies, extends and creates new tax credits for green energy production, investing and manufacturing.

Biden stated that he looks forward to signing the bill into law. The bill is seen as a victory for the president and Democrats ahead of the November 8 midterm elections.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.