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Democrats warn cuts to Inflation Reduction Act grants and Neighborhood Access & Equity funds; Republicans say offsets needed to meet reconciliation instructions
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Summary
Democratic members said the reconciliation draft rescinds or reduces previously awarded Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds and Neighborhood Access & Equity (NAE) grants, risking projects already under way; Republicans said the cuts are required to meet deficit‑reduction instructions for reconciliation.
During the markup, several Democratic members warned that the committee print rescinds unobligated balances from programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act and rescinds or reduces funding for the Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) grant program, which funds projects to repair communities harmed by past highway construction.
Representative Carson (on the record) criticized specific rescissions: "It rescinds grants to develop new infrastructure supporting sustainable aviation fuel and low emissions aviation technology. The bill takes back up to $3,100,000,000 for the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program, Environmental Review Implementation Funds, and Low Carbon Transportation Materials Grants." He said these cuts would reverse previously awarded grants and harm communities that had applied and planned around the funds.
Democrats argued many localities had already been awarded grants and were relying on funds in municipal budgets; they urged preserving previously awarded funding. Opponents of the rescissions characterized the reductions as planned offsets to comply with reconciliation deficit reduction instructions. Ranking members warned that further debate in other committees and in the Senate could reinsert or alter some of the cuts as the reconciliation process proceeds.
What proponents said: Supporters of the package said hard choices were required to meet the Committee’s instruction to reduce the deficit by not less than $10,000,000,000 over 10 years and that some rescissions were necessary to produce offsets. They argued the committee prioritized investments in Coast Guard recapitalization and air traffic control while trimming other items to meet the reconciliation scoring targets.
What opponents said: Democratic members said rescinding previously awarded grants is disruptive and undermines confidence in federal grant programs. They pointed to specific local projects that would be affected and said rescissions would harm job creation and community safety projects that had already started.
What happened: The markup included votes on amendments that would protect or restore individual programs; many of those amendments failed or were voted down in recorded votes. The committee adopted the final committee print as amended and transmitted it to the House Budget Committee.
