Tester Statement on Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to Reduce Deficit, Lower Costs for Working Families

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement after he voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, targeted legislation to lower costs for families and small businesses.

“The Inflation Reduction Act will pay down the debt by hundreds of billions of dollars, lower costs for families, cut prescription drug prices, and unleash American energy, all without raising taxes on working Montanans. I fought to make sure this bill is fully paid for and will cut costs for Americans while making us less reliant on foreign adversaries like Russia to power our country. I’ve heard directly from folks in every corner of our state asking me to find solutions that will bring down costs and help our country maintain its place as the leading economic power in the world, and that’s exactly what the Inflation Reduction Act does.”

The Inflation Reduction Act is fully paid for legislation providing targeted resources that will:

• Invest hundreds of billions of dollars to pay down America’s debt—the largest debt reduction in more than a decade. Paying down the debt will fight inflation, grow the economy, and provide economic certainty for future generations of Montanans.

• Lower costs for working families by:
  • Allowing Medicare to use its purchasing power to negotiate drug prices, ensuring older Americans pay fairer prices for their prescription medication.
  • Extending the affordable health care subsidies through 2025, preventing insurance premium hikes for thousands of Montanans.
  • Capping out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000 per year, beginning in 2024.

• Unleash American energy production, securing Montana’s energy future and making the United States less reliant on our adversaries like Russia and China, by:
  • Expanding offshore oil and gas leasing in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Ensuring that the Department of Interior continues offering oil and gas lease sales while developing renewable energy on public lands.
  • Extending and expanding tax credits for investments in and the production of renewable energy as well as creating new credits that grow American manufacturing jobs.