President Joe Biden listed several policy priorities in his State of the Union address. Here are four of the biggest pitches.

Biden’s speech largely focused on an optimistic vision for America's economy and a blueprint for the future, featuring a litany of Democratic priorities. Of note, while some policy initiatives are more bipartisan than others, many are more aspirational and have virtually no chance of coming to fruition in the next two years, given the Republican Party's control of the House.

Billionaire tax

Mark this as a policy proposal that isn’t likely to end up as law anytime soon. Biden used his remarks to ask Congress to pass legislation that would increase the tax burden on the country’s highest earners. He called for a “minimum tax” for billionaires.

Biden had previously pitched a billionaires' tax last year that would have levied a 20% tax on households that have a net worth of more than $100 million. The tax would have been applied to regular earnings and unrealized capital gains (which are currently not taxable).

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While the idea is essentially dead in the water, given the GOP's control of the House, even centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) bucked it back in 2021.

“I don’t like it,” he said at the time. “I don't like the connotation that we're targeting different people as people that — basically, they contributed to society and create a lot of jobs and a lot of money and give a lot to philanthropic pursuits.”

A similar proposal from 2021 would raise $557 billion over 10 years, according to a preliminary estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation that was released around the time the legislation was pitched.

Cancer Moonshot

During his speech, the president also announced new actions as part of his revived “Cancer Moonshot,” which was reignited last year. The goal of the initiative is to slash the cancer death rate by 50% over the next quarter-century.

Biden called on Congress to reauthorize the decades-old National Cancer Act to get additional funding for America's cancer care and research systems. Biden also pushed for additional spending on cancer research.

The president also announced action to discourage smoking, including helping those who wish to quit smoking as well as preventing young people from taking up the habit in the first place. The White House has claimed that the actions could end up saving up to 130,000 lives each year and prevent as much as 30% of U.S. cancer deaths.

The Cancer Moonshot was first launched by Biden, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, when he was vice president in 2016, and it was reignited last year.

Cracking down on fentanyl

In his speech, Joe Biden also announced a nationwide crackdown targeting the fentanyl epidemic, which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. The administration plans to move dozens of huge X-ray scanners to points of entry along the U.S. border with Mexico, an action officials hope will help identify the deadly drugs being smuggled into the country.

The administration also plans to work with Congress to ensure fentanyl-related substances are permanently classified as Schedule I drugs, the most dangerous categorization of illegal substances that carries the heaviest penalties.

Stock buybacks tax

During the State of the Union, Biden also called for quadrupling the tax on corporate stock buybacks. That comes after a 1% excise tax on corporate buybacks was imposed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed last year by Congress.

Stock buybacks, when corporations believe their shares are undervalued and buy up their own company stock to reduce the number of outstanding shares in the market, have become increasingly common over the years.

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Proponents see the practice as a good way to create value for shareholders, but detractors contend that the practice helps the company’s wealthiest employees make money instead of using it in ways that could help expand the business, such as hiring more workers.

Quadrupling the tax rate would generate some $185 billion in revenue from 2023 to 2032, according to an estimate from the Tax Foundation.