‘Win, win, win, win’: Here’s what the Inflation Reduction Act could mean for SLO County

Ahead of the U.S. House of Representatives vote to approve and send the Inflation Reduction Act to President Joe Biden’s desk on Friday, local politicians and community leaders held a news conference Thursday afternoon in San Luis Obispo to tout the expected benefits of the bill.

The press conference was held under a metal shade structure in the middle of the San Luis Ranch community, with the din of construction noises not quite drowning out the speakers. The housing development is set to be the first all-electric community in the city, with solar panels on roofs and electric appliances in each home.

Congressman Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, led the press conference before he jetted back to Washington, D.C., to sign the bill on Friday. The House passed the bill on a 220-207 party-line vote, with all Democrats supporting it and all Republicans opposing.

The bill was formerly known as the “Build Back Better Act.” Heavy edits in the Senate morphed it into the Inflation Reduction Act.

Overall, Carbajal said the bill is a “win, win, win, win” for Central Coast families because it’s expected to reduce climate change impacts, prescription drug costs, the federal deficit and inflation over time.

“This bill didn’t have everything we had hoped for. It’s not perfect, but it’s a major major step forward,” Carbajal said at the press conference. “The Inflation Reduction Act will cut your cost of living and reduce inflation, grow our economy, and create thousands of jobs all while tackling long-term threats to our wildlife, like climate change, and making healthcare premiums and prescription drugs more affordable.”

The Inflation Reduction Act passed the Senate on Sunday afternoon in a 51-50 party-line vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie.

Republicans opposing the bill say Democrats have ignored analyses warning that this bill will “raise taxes, cut jobs, kill cures and fuel inflation,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a statement to the Des Moines Register.

The bill would not raise taxes for those who earn under $400,000, according to Carbajal.

The bill, which should be signed by President Biden in a matter of days, is expected to raise more billions in additional government revenue over the next decade by tweaking federal tax laws primarily to target billion-dollar companies and people who don’t pay anything to the government.

And it would authorize the largest investment in U.S. history to tackle the climate crisis by filtering $370 billion into efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a predicted 40% below 2005 levels by 2030.

“We’re giving Central Coast families hundreds of dollars in rebates to help them buy new energy-efficient appliances; we’re helping folks cover the cost of weatherizing their homes, installing clean cooling and heating systems tax credits to install rooftop solar,” Carbajal said. “And yes, tax credits to help middle-class American afford new or used electric vehicles: up to $7,500 for vehicles made in America.”

The bill would empower Medicare to negotiate lower prices on certain medications, and it would cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare at $2,000 annually. If pharmaceutical companies raise the prices of their Medicare drug prices, they’ll be required to pay “rebates” to the federal government, under the bill’s framework.

“This bill is not only a major climate action bill, it’s a healthcare, prescription drug cost reduction reform bill; it is an economic bill because it’s going to invest billions of dollars in business, renewable energy and in creating jobs,” Carbajal said. “And how can we miss one of the most important pieces of this? It’s going to reduce our federal deficit. ... This is a very historic day.”

During the press conference, the speakers joining Carbajal focused primarily on the climate change impacts the bill is expected to have. The Inflation Reduction Act is touted by Democrats as the biggest victory for the environmental movement since the Clean Air Act of 1970.

“The climate crisis is not an environmental issue, a liberal issue or something to be sorted out by the electrical and environmental engineers,” said Erin Pearse, a mathematics professor and director of the Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience at Cal Poly. “Effectively dealing with the climate crisis is of paramount importance to all residents of Earth. And this is an all-hands-on-deck moment. But at the same time, the solutions do lie within our reach if we can just generate sufficient political will, and implementing these solutions will transform our society for the better.”

San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart explained her support for the bill and boasted about the city’s ambitious climate action goals, which has put the city ahead of others in the county in terms of curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

“These consumer tax credits in the act will help us have more clean and efficient appliances, electric vehicles (and) rooftop solar for many residents here in the community,” she said. “We’ll have increased and improved tools and resources, and we’ll have added funding that will help make this happen.”

Speaking from her experience working for years as a solar power advocate and PG&E employee, District 3 San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said she was ecstatic about the bill passing the Senate.

“With this legislation, along with your work on our Morro Bay offshore wind call area, our knowledgeable workforce, our dynamic economic partners, our businesses and institutions like Cal Poly and Cuesta College, we can all strongly position our region as the ... energy economic powerhouse which we are so qualified to grow further,” she said. “The manufacturing, production and tax credits will accelerate investments to building the facilities and products necessary for wind, solar and storage.”

She further said that the “historic legislation will finally take our country into the 21st century.”

Jim Dantona, president and CEO of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, echoed many of the comments of the speakers before him and added that the bill is set to provide economic benefit to the region.

“We are poised to create a thriving economy around this next generation of clean technologies and energy,” he said. “And this bill will specifically help us move that forward.”