Senate nears tax package vote
Revamping code hinges on winning over deficit hawks
WASHINGTON — The Senate edged closer Thursday to a historic vote on a sweeping rewrite of the nation’s tax code that includes cuts for corporations, businesses and individuals but would heap $1.4 trillion onto the national debt over 10 years.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., “This is a good bill.”
But Republican leaders continued to work on galvanizing support for the bill among their caucus, tweaking the legislation to address the debt if economic growth projections failed to materialize and to help pay for massive permanent cuts to corporations. A vote could come on Friday.
Several deficit hawks in the GOP such as Sen. Bob Corker, R-tenn., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-ariz., and Sen. James Lankford, R-okla., voiced concern about the debt. They want a “trigger” mechanism that would impose automatic tax increases to provide revenue if growth fails to materialize.
The Joint Committee on Taxation said the bill would cost $1.4 trillion and raise only $458 billion in offsetting revenue, figures that have bothered GOP lawmakers concerned with the debt. It would boost economic growth by just 0.8 percent over the next decade.
Nonetheless, the bill received a boost Thursday when Sen. John McCain, a recalcitrant Republican from Arizona, signaled he would support the legislation despite concerns.
“This is not a perfect bill, but it is one that would deliver much-needed reform to our tax code, grow the economy, and help Americans keep more of their hard-earned money,” Mccain said in a statement.
Under the bill, the corporate tax rate would be cut from 35 percent to 20 percent. While the corporate cuts would be permanent, tax cuts for individuals would sunset in 2025 and taxes on some middle-class brackets would increase, according to the This legislation will literally put thousands of dollars back into the pockets of hardworking Nevadans, allowing them to purchase anything from three months’ worth of groceries to 9,000 diapers. Joint Committee on Taxation.
The Senate bill would double the standard deduction, and Sen. Dean Heller, R-nev., was instrumental in adding a provision to double the child tax credit to $2,000.
“This legislation will literally put thousands of dollars back into the pockets of hardworking Nevadans, allowing them to purchase anything from three months’ worth of groceries to 9,000 diapers,” Heller said.
Democrats are united in their opposition to the legislation. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-nev., called the GOP plan “smoke and mirrors.”
“While the GOP claims it will help hardworking middle-class families, the fact is they will see their taxes go up over a decade,” Cortez Masto said in a statement on social media.
Senate Republicans are using special budget reconciliation rules to pass the tax bill with a simple majority and avoid a filibuster by Democrats.
President Donald Trump has stumped in Missouri and met with Republicans on Capitol Hill this week to bolster support for the legislation.
The House passed its version of the bill on Nov. 16, which has major differences from the Senate version.
The Senate bill would eliminate the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which requires federal filers to buy insurance or pay an IRS penalty.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that eliminating the mandate would result in 4 million fewer people with insurance in 2019 and 13 million fewer people insured by 2027.
The House bill does not include that ACA mandate repeal but would eliminate deductions for families on medical expenses and college loan interest.
Differences in the two pieces of legislation would have to be reconciled in a House-senate conference committee.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.