Posted on 08/07/22
| News Source: The Hill
Senate Democrats have passed their sweeping tax, healthcare and climate change legislation after a marathon night of voting, with Vice President Harris casting the decisive vote to break a 50-50 deadlock and the package to the House.
The long-awaited $740 billion bill that would raise taxes on corporations, tackle climate change, lower prescription drug costs and reduce the deficit.
The bill was approved on Sunday afternoon after a full night and morning in which senators worked non-stop on the consideration of amendments to the legislation. Democrats generally stuck together to defeat GOP amendments that might have scuttled the bill.
A last-second hiccup occurred when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) backed an amendment that extended a cap on on state and local tax deductions (SALT) that was a key feature of the 2017 Trump tax cut bill. It was seen as endangering the bill because the ceiling on the deduction hurts many households in blue states and districts.
Seven Democrats ended up backing the amendment offered by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), but any damage was undone by the immediate passage of another amendment that replaced the SALT cap extension with a different revenue stream.