congressional roll call
HOUSE COPPER MINING IN NATIONAL FOREST:
Voting 216 for and 204 against, the House on Nov. 30 passed a bill (HR 3905) that would require the Bureau of Land Management to renew two leases for mining rights beneath the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota, which surrounds the 1.1 million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. At the close of the Obama administration, the BLM announced it would discontinue the leases in order to protect natural resources, tribal rights and tourism in the area. The lease holder, Chilean-owned Twin Metals Minnesota, is seeking to develop an underground copper mine and processing plant on the land. The company has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the BLM decision.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Bruce Westerman, R-4
TEXAS
Voting yes: Louie Gohmert, R-1, John Ratcliffe, R-4
DISCLOSURE OF DONALD TRUMP’S TAX RETURNS:
Voting 227 for and 189 against, the House on Nov. 29 blocked a parliamentary attempt by Democrats to force floor debate on a bill (HR 305) now in committee that would require President Trump and future presidential nominees to disclose their federal tax returns for the three preceding years. Democrats timed this vote to coincide with congressional action on GOP tax-overhaul bills.
No opponent spoke during brief discussion of the bill.
A yes vote opposed floor consideration of the tax-disclosure bill.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Westerman
TEXAS
Voting yes: Gohmert, Ratcliffe
PROBATION RULES FOR CIVIL SERVICE:
Voting 213 for and 204 against, the House on Nov. 30 passed a bill (HR 4182) that would double from one to two years the probationary period for newly hired employees in the federal civil service. The bill would also increase from one to two years the time new federal workers must serve to qualify for full due-process rights when being disciplined. The bill imposes similar restrictions on the Senior Executive Service, which is a management corps ranking above the civil service and below political appointees.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Westerman
TEXAS
Voting yes: Gohmert, Ratcliffe
SENATE REPUBLICAN TAX OVERHAUL:
Voting 51 for and 49 against, the Senate on Dec. 2 passed a Republican-drafted bill (HR 1) that would permanently reduce the corporate tax rate, temporarily reduce personal income tax rates, scale back the federal estate tax, open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, repeal the 2010 health law’s individual mandate and make numerous other changes to the tax code and domestic programs.
The bill would reduce business and personal taxes by about $1.4 trillion through fiscal 2027. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the bill would add $1 trillion to the national debt after increased borrowing costs and new revenue resulting from economic growth are taken into effect. Federal debt now stands at $20.6 trillion.
Because the bill would increase deficits, it triggers a pay-as-you-go rule requiring revenue losses from tax changes to be offset elsewhere in the budget. That likely means cuts over 10 years in entitlement programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A one-year, $25 billion Medicare spending cut is factored into the bill.
For businesses, the bill would permanently reduce the top tax rate on corporate earnings from 35 percent to 20 percent, lower the rate for passively managed pass-through entities such as S Corporations and partnerships from 39.6 percent to 25 percent and give multinationals a onetime opportunity to bring cash home from overseas tax havens at a 14.5 percent rate.
The bill would lower personal income tax rates, but most of the changes in individual taxes would expire after seven or eight years. Most households earning less than $75,000 would face higher tax bills starting in 2027 than they do under current law, according to the joint tax panel.
The bill would eliminate the $4,050 personal exemption, end itemized deductions for state and local income taxes and allow up to $10,000 in deductions for property taxes. The standard deduction would be permanently doubled to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for joint filers, while the child tax credit would be increased from $1,000 to $2,000. A 1.4 percent tax would be imposed on the earnings of college and university endowments above certain levels. Estatetax exemptions would be doubled to $11 million for individuals and $22 million for couples, enabling all but 1,800 Americans to receive an inheritance free of federal taxation.
By requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, the individual mandate helps spread healthcare costs throughout the population. Its repeal is projected to add 13 million individuals to uninsured rolls and trigger 10 percent increases in health insurance premiums. The mandate is regarded as one of three pillars necessary to keep the Affordable Care Act from collapsing, along with its ban on coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions and premium subsidies enabling low-income households to afford insurance.
In a statement on abortion, the bill allows parents to name fetuses as beneficiaries of Section 529 college savings plans. Under Roe v. Wade, a fetus usually does not reach viability, or personhood, until 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy.
The bill replaces the Consumer Price Index as a measurement for adjusting tax brackets for inflation, instead using the less generous “chained CPI” for protecting earners against the bracket creep that results when incomes rise because of inflation.
A yes vote was to send the bill to a House-Senate conference committee.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Cotton, Boozman
TEXAS
Voting yes: Cornyn, Cruz
PERMAMENT MIDDLE-CLASS TAX CUTS:
Voting 48 for and 52 against, the Senate on Dec. 1 turned back a Democratic measure that sought to make middle- and lower-class income tax cuts in HR 1 (above) permanent just as the bill’s corporate tax cuts are permanent. Without this change, the bill’s cuts for individuals and families would expire after seven or eight years. To keep the change from adding to deficits, the amendment would scale back the bill’s cuts in taxes on corporate earnings by an equivalent sum.
A yes vote was to give permanency to middle- and lower-class income tax cuts.
ARKANSAS
Voting no: Cotton, Boozman
TEXAS
Voting no: Cornyn, Cruz
HIRING LINKED TO CORPORATE TAX SAVINGS:
Voting 48 for and 52 against, the Senate on Nov. 30 refused to require corporations to use a significant share of their tax savings from a pending tax-overhaul bill (HR 1) to expand payrolls. The Democratic-sponsored measure sought to require firms to spend as much of their tax savings on hiring new workers as they do on raising executive pay, buying back stock and increasing dividend payments to shareholders.
A yes vote was to establish a link between hiring policies and corporate tax savings.
ARKANSAS
Voting no: Tom Cotton, R, John Boozman, R
TEXAS
Voting no: John Cornyn, R, Ted Cruz, R
TAX CREDITS LINKED TO PRO-WORKER POLICIES:
Voting 48 for and 51 against,
the Senate on Nov. 30 turned back a Democratic-sponsored measure that sought to provide tax credits of $1,500 per worker to U.S. corporations that pay wages of at least $15 an hour, provide substantive health and retirement benefits and keep their headquarters in the United States.
A yes vote was to advance the amendment to HR 1 (above).
ARKANSAS
Voting no: Cotton, Boozman
TEXAS
Voting no: Cornyn, Cruz
GREGORY KATSAS, APPEALS JUDGE:
Voting 50 for and 48 against, the Senate on Nov. 28 confirmed Gregory G. Katsas, 53, a former deputy counsel to President Trump, for a seat on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The 11-judge panel is regarded as the most powerful court below the Supreme Court because it has direct authority over the actions of federal agencies including rulemakings. Katsas drew Democratic criticism over his helping to draft White House’s policies on LGBT rights and travel to the United States from certain Muslim-majority countries.
A yes vote was to confirm Katsas.
ARKANSAS
Voting yes: Cotton, Boozman
TEXAS
Voting yes: Cornyn, Cruz
KEY VOTES AHEAD
The House is expected to vote in the week of Dec. 4 on a Democratic member’s resolution to start impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Both chambers will take up a measure to fund the government after temporary spending authority expires Dec. 8, and they could also vote on a tax-overhaul bill.