U.S. Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Frank Lucas (R-OK) both voted against their chamber’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which the president signed into law today.
In separate statements released on Aug. 12, the members decried spending and regulatory provisions included in the amended H.R. 5376, which the U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 12 voted 220-207 to pass after the U.S. Senate approved the measure on Aug. 7 in a 51-50 vote.
“For 18 months, the irresponsible spending and regulatory policies of Washington Democrats have eroded the savings and sense of stability for millions of families across Oklahoma and the rest of the country,” Rep. Lucas said following the House vote. “Unfortunately for the American people, Washington Democrats’ solution to record-setting inflation is spending hundreds of billions more and increasing taxes on American businesses.”
Rep. Wagner agreed, stating that the increases in the cost of living facing all Missouri families are directly related to the policies advanced by President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats.
“Instead of working to help families afford their everyday necessities and ease the economic pain, Democrats are ramming through a tax increase at a perilous time,” said Rep. Wagner. “This radical, far-left spending bill is just going to make life more unaffordable and increase inflation, at a time when people can’t afford the gas and groceries they need to get to work and feed their families.”
Rep. Lucas also said that the Inflation Reduction Act will not reduce inflation and cited an Aug. 4 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that says the bill will have little to no impact on inflation.
“The bill, however, will raise taxes and fees on Oklahoma oil and gas companies, increase energy prices for consumers, set an irresponsible precedent for farm bill programs, thwart medical innovation, and raise taxes on American companies who serve as generators of economic opportunity and growth,” said Rep. Lucas. “I am absolutely opposed to this deeply misguided bill, which will only further burden Oklahoma’s families and our economy.”
Rep. Wagner also bemoaned an H.R. 5376 provision that she says will increase IRS audits on working-class Americans. “The facts are clear: this is a partisan, special interest-driven bill that will fund nearly 90,000 IRS agents who will target the middle class with impunity,” she said.
Additionally, she noted that more than $300 billion will go to Green New Deal initiatives like climate justice, tree planting, “and even an EPA slush fund.”
“Tax increases like this are unconscionable as working families are already paying higher utility and gas prices in the middle of an economic crisis,” Rep. Wagner said.