Local opinion: Ciscomani must stop undermining IRA progress

Last month, we celebrated the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act being signed into law. Only a year old, the law is making a tremendous impact on communities across southern Arizona.

For instance, I was recently at an event celebrating the University of Arizona’s selection as an environmental justice technical assistance center to help underserved communities in Tucson access energy and climate investments made available from the Inflation Reduction Act.

The law does so much more for us in southern Arizona. It starts the negotiating process so that Medicare patients can access more affordable prescription drugs, targeting some of the most expensive drugs that seniors have to pay for. It also prevents excessive price hikes and capping out-of-pocket costs. And it also lowers health care premiums for the millions of Americans who get their insurance through the exchange.

It also lives up to its name by fighting inflation. To be clear, since the law’s passage, inflation has gone down and we’re now seeing the cost-of-living increases that were squeezing so many families come under control.

The Inflation Reduction Act also provides tax credits for working families while empowering the IRS to address wealthy tax cheats who use accountants and complicated returns to avoid paying their fair share.

That’s especially true if you compare the Inflation Reduction Act with the policies of Republicans in Congress like my Congressman, Juan Ciscomani. Just since gaining control of the House of Representatives in January, he voted to make it easier for the rich and corporations to cheat on their taxes; risked world financial catastrophe by threatening not to pay the nation’s bills; voted to deny 100,000 kids childcare and a million families affordable housing; and threatened to shut the whole government down.

To make matters worse, Republican House members are trying to undo the benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act that are helping us here in southern Arizona. Now Congressman Ciscomani and his Republican colleagues are proposing tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest individuals while doing virtually nothing for the rest of us. He needs to start looking out for his constituents instead of giving handouts to those at the very top.