GOP tax bill gains momentum
WASHINGTON — After a flurry of last-minute concessions by President Donald Trump to win over reluctant Republicans, the GOP tax plan cleared a key committee vote Tuesday and appeared better positioned for passage when the full Senate is expected to vote later this week.
Even so, with Republicans’ slim 52-seat majority in the Senate, it would take only three of the remaining half dozen or so GOP holdouts to block the bill, which Republicans hope will be their signature legislative achievement of Trump’s first year in office. The Senate bill, which still needs to be reconciled with a House version, remains a work in progress.
Many of the latest changes were aimed at winning support from Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine centrist, who helped kill the GOP’s Obamacare repeal earlier this year.
Dealing directly with Trump at times, including in a private meeting, Collins apparently won concessions on two major fronts, according to those familiar with the negotiations.
Trump vowed to support an Affordable Care Act fix that would continue so-called costsharing reduction payments for two years, as long as the tax bill includes a provision that would repeal the Obamacare requirement that all Americans have insurance. The costsharing payments help reduce co-payments and deductibles for low-income Americans.
Collins also won assurances that the Senate bill would allow homeowners to write off property tax deductions up to $10,000, matching a provision in the House GOP tax bill. That’s good news for residents of high-tax states. The original Senate bill ended all deductions for state and local taxes.
Even some GOP leaders seemed surprised by the proposed changes as they left Trump’s lunch meeting with all Republicans on Capitol Hill.
“Susan’s a negotiator,” shrugged the third-ranking GOP Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. “We’d love to have her get to yes.”
Collins voiced appreciation for the modifications, but has not endorsed the bill.
“I feel like we’re making progress, but I’m not there yet,” Collins said. She is also pushing to keep the top individual tax rate at 39.6 percent, as in the House plan, rather than lower it to 38.5 percent, as currently proposed in the Senate version.
The Senate is set to open formal debate Wednesday, and vote by Friday, on the sweeping $1.5 trillion package that permanently reduces corporate taxes and temporarily cuts some individual rates. The bill has drawn criticism for being too heavily tilted toward big business and the wealthy.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged that changes are still being made to win over votes.
“Think of sitting there with a Rubik’s cube trying to get to 50,” he said, referring to the votes needed for passage, assuming Vice President Mike Pence breaks a tie.
“We do have a few members who have concerns and we’re trying to address them,” he said. “We know we will not be able to go forward until we get 50 people satisfied, and that’s what we’re working on.”
Senators have a range of concerns. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is trying to create more parity between small businesses, whose tax cuts would expire in eight years, and corporations, whose reductions would be permanent.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., tweeted about making sure that an enhanced child tax credit is refundable. And Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., wants to ensure tax cuts don’t add to the deficit.
The current plan would add about $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, though Republicans insist those costs will be offset by the economic growth spurred by the tax cuts.
Economists are skeptical, noting previous tax cuts have failed to deliver significant growth. Corker wants a legislative trigger that could claw back some of the tax cuts if growth doesn’t occur and deficits spike.
Corker said he had reached an agreement with GOP leaders, but senators said details about a trigger, such as when it would take effect and whether it would impact individual or corporate tax cuts, remained under negotiation. Many oppose including any kind of trigger.
“I have been working feverishly with my colleagues and the White House to improve the #TaxReform legislation and ensure fiscal responsibility should economic growth estimates not be realized,” Corker tweeted early Tuesday.
Both Corker and Johnson had been potential holdouts as members of the Senate Budget Committee. But despite their ongoing reservations, they both joined their GOP colleagues to pass the package Tuesday in a partyline vote that showcased the urgency lawmakers face in sending it to the Senate floor.