Demos President Taifa Smith Butler on House Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act

NEW YORK, NY — Demos President Taifa Smith Butler issued the following statement in response to the U.S. House’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act: 

“Today's passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is a testament to the tireless organizing by Black and brown communities to elevate climate change and rising, unchecked corporate power as existential threats.  

“The legislation includes investments organizers and advocates have fought for, including investments in renewable energy and climate investments aimed at frontline communities, negotiating power for Medicare, and in closing tax loopholes exploited by corporations.  

“While we celebrate the critical organizing work and the provisions that were won, we recognize the legislative process that produced this Act is not a model for how we’ll solve the crises before us. Wealthy corporations—whose spending has doubled over the past two decades—fought to defend their interests. And, in many cases, they won. This Act made major concessions to the fossil fuel industry that disproportionately stand to harm low-income, Black, brown, and indigenous communities. It also failed to include broadly popular and long overdue investments in our infrastructure—from universal pre-K to child care and elder care investments, the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, and meaningful investments in affordable housing and healthcare. 

“The future we need is one that deconcentrates corporate power, expands public goods like childcare and education, and ensures that those most impacted by the policies have a say. 

“We recognize President Biden signing this Act into law is just the beginning. We expect to see the equitable distribution of its funds to the Black and brown communities most impacted by core provisions of this bill—climate change and high drug prices, included. And we stand with the movement in anticipation of the necessary work to come.”