Peters Statement on the One Year Anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act

TRAVERSE CITY, MI –U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) released the following statement on the one year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Peters helped pass and enact into law.

“I was proud to help pass the Inflation Reduction Act, and in the first year of this historic law it’s clear this legislation is lowering costs and making important investments for Michigan families and our economy. This law is capping insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare, reducing prescription drug costs and energy costs for families, accelerating the transition to clean energy and tackling climate change – all while creating jobs, incentivizing domestic manufacturing and strengthening supply chains.”

The Inflation Reduction Act is working to:

• LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS: Allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices and cap out-of-pocket costs to $2,000 annually, which will lower prescription drug costs. It has also reduced the cost of insulin, capping at $35 per month co-pays for seniors on Medicare plans. Peters previously cosponsored legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and lower the costs of insulin and save patients’ money.

• LOWER HEALTH CARE COSTS: Has reduced Affordable Care Act premiums for millions of Americans for three years, through 2025. Without this provision, millions of Americans could have faced higher health care premiums for quality coverage.

• INVEST IN CLEAN ENERGY & DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING, COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE: Has made historic investments in tackling climate change, while lowering energy costs, increasing clean energy production and reducing carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030. It included clean energy tax credits for consumers and manufacturing. The consumer tax credits are for electric vehicles and encourage families to make their homes more energy efficient and run on clean energy. The bill also provided manufacturing incentives including tax credits to encourage the onshoring of supply chains and accelerate domestic manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and critical minerals. Together, these measures have created economic opportunity and create jobs, improved our energy security, accelerated development of clean energy technologies, and helped confront the climate crisis. This has also boosted our economic competitiveness against other countries, including China. As Chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters helped secure provisions to repair and maintain DHS facilities to protect workers from toxic substances, such as PFAS, and save taxpayer dollars by improving energy efficiency. He also secured a provision to encourage the use of environmentally friendly building materials in disaster recovery efforts.

• REDUCE DEFICIT & FIGHT INFLATION: Taken steps to fight inflation and bring down the deficit. It has also made the biggest corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. The savings in this bill were accomplished by closing tax loopholes and enforcing the tax code. It also included a measure to impose a one percent tax on corporate stock buybacks.

• PROVIDE THE POSTAL SERVICE WITH SAFE AND EFFICIENT DELIVERY VEHICLES: The future of the auto industry is electric, and this law has made investments in an EV future that will help drive innovation, jobs and economic opportunity. As Chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters helped secure major investments for the U.S. Postal Service to purchase electric delivery trucks as they continue to add more Next Generation Delivery Vehicles and other vehicles to their fleet. The funding has also enabled the Postal Service to invest in charging infrastructure. Peters has led efforts to ensure the Postal Service acquires more electric vehicles. In part due to his urging, the Postal Service announced that they intend to expand their electric vehicle purchase order to at least fifty percent. Peters convened a committee briefing with USPS to discuss efforts to modernize the Postal Service’s aging delivery vehicle fleet – including by acquiring electric vehicles and prioritizing union-made vehicles. He sent a letter to Postal Service leadership urging them to prioritize the acquisition of electric vehicles to ensure the fleet is sustainable for the Postal Service and for our environment. The Postal Service announced earlier this year they were moving forward with awards to modernize and electrify the postal delivery vehicle fleet.

• ENSURE EFFECTIVE USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS: The law included additional resources, which Peters helped secure as Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to support the Government Accountability Office’s efforts to conduct oversight of the spending and implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act.

For more information on how the Inflation Reduction Act will benefit Michigan families, visit https://www.peters.senate.gov/inflationreductionact.

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