House passes GOP tax bill
Pa. representatives vote along party lines
WASHINGTON — Republicans rammed a $1.5 trillion overhaul of business and personal income taxes through the House on Thursday, edging toward the code’s biggest rewrite in three decades and the first major legislative triumph for President Donald Trump and the GOP after 10 bumpy months of controlling government.
The mostly party-line 227-205 vote masked more ominous problems in the Senate. There, a similar package received a politically awkward verdict from nonpartisan congressional analysts showing it would eventually produce higher taxes for low- and middleincome earners but deep reductions for those better off.
The Senate bill was approved late Thursday by the Finance Committee and sent to the full Senate on a party-line 14-12 vote. Like the House measure, it would slash the corporate tax rate and reduce personal income tax rates for many.
The analysts’ problematic projections for the Senate bill came a day came a day after Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson became the first GOP senator to state opposition to the measure, saying it didn’t cut levies enough for millions of partnerships and corporations. With at least five other Republican senators yet to declare support, the bill’s fate is far from certain in a chamber the GOP controls by just 52-48.
Even so, Republicans are hoping to send a compromise bill for Mr. Trump to sign by Christmas.
“Now is the time to deliver,” the White House said in a written statement that underscored the party’s effort to maintain
momentum and outrace critics. Those include the AARP lobby for older people, major medical organizations, Realtors — and, in all likelihood, every Senate Democrat.
Pennsylvania’s Republicans all voted for the House bill while the state’s Democrats opposed it.
During floor speeches, and later in press releases, it sounded like Republicans and Democrats were talking about two different bills. Republicans described a historic bill that would raise wages, cut taxes for working families and encourage businesses to expand. Democrats called the legislation a “scam” and a “horrible bill” that will devastate working families while making the rich richer.
“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will lower the burden on middle-class families and small businesses in Pennsylvania and give the American economy a much needed shot in the arm,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Bedford. “Small businesses are the backbone of an economy that needs to get moving, and today the House took a major step to lessen the burden on these job creators and hardworking families.”
In a floor speech, U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, RCentre, described it as once-in-a-generation legislation that “truly strives to help families keep more of their hard-earned paychecks.”
Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Sewickley, also weighed in: “This tax reform legislation puts more money in the pockets of hardworking Pennsylvanians, creates more jobs in our state, and lessens the power of Washington.”
U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, RLuzerne, said the bill shows that Congress is “serious about getting Washington off the backs of middle-class families,” and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, said it’s a jobs billand a revenue raiser.
But to Democrats like U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, it’s none of those things.
“Supporters of this bill have said everyone gets a tax cut. That’s not true. Millions of Americans get a tax increase,” he said, raising his voice during a speech on the House floor.
“Does anyone really believe that tax cuts for corporations and for the rich will trickle down to the rest of us? It didn’t work in the Reagan administration, it didn’t work in the Bush administration, it didn’t work in Kansas, and it’s not going to work today.”
Republicans say the current tax system isn’t working, either.
“For a generation, America has seen stagnant growth and dwindling opportunities,” Mr. Barletta said in a statement Thursday. “Today, we signaled that the old way of doing business is over. The era of stagnation is coming to a close.”
With this summer’s crash of the GOP effort to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s health care law, Republicans see a successful tax effort as the best way to avert major losses in next year’s congressional elections. House Republicans conceded they are watching the Senate warily.
The House plan and a comparable proposal Republican shoped to push through the Senate Finance Committee by week’s end would deliver the bulk of their tax reductions to businesses.
Each would cut the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent, while reducing personal rates for many taxpayers and erasing or shrinking deductions. Projected federal deficits would grow by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
As decades of Republicans have done before them, GOP lawmakers touted their tax cuts as a boon to families across all income lines and a boost for businesses and the entire country.
Democrats said the measure would disproportionately help the wealthy and mean tax increases for millions. Among other things, the House legislation would reduce and ultimately repeal the tax Americans pay on the largest inheritances, while the Senate would limit that levy to fewer estates.
The bill is “pillaging the middle class to pad the pockets of the wealthiest and hand tax breaks to corporations shipping jobs out of America,” declared House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.
Thirteen House Republicans — all but one from hightax California, New York and New Jersey — voted “no” because the plan would erase tax deductions for state and local income and sales taxes and limit property tax deductions to $10,000. Defectors included House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, RN.J., who said the measure would “hurt New Jersey families.”
Mr. Trump traveled to the Capitol before the vote to give House Republicans a pep talk. Participants said he told them he’d spoken to Mr. Johnson, the dissenting GOP senator, and said, “He’ll come around.”
Besides Mr. Johnson, RepublicanSens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, Bob Corker of Tennessee and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have yet to commit to backing the tax measure.
Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the Senate plan would mean higher taxes beginning in 2021 for many families earning under $30,000 annually. By 2027, families making less than $75,000 would face tax boosts while those making more would enjoy cuts.