Republican Sen. Susan Collins on tax reform: Not yet
Several key votes hinge on making changes
WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, wouldn’t say Sunday if she would vote against the current Republican tax plan under consideration in the Senate, but she ticked off a lengthy list of changes she hopes to see before any vote.
Collins, one of several key votes Republicans will need to pass the plan, said on CNN’s State of the Union she hoped two other pieces of legislation are passed or rolled into the measure, including one creating high-risk insurance pools for less healthy individuals and another shoring up Obamacare.
She also doesn’t think the top corporate rate needs to be cut as steeply as it is in the current legislation, which drops the rate from 35% to 20% in 2019.
Collins wants to restore a deduction for state and local taxes.
“It benefits people of all tax brackets,” Collins said, but added she wants to skew more of the benefits toward lower and middle income families. “There are provisions of the bill that I would like to see changed.”
Republicans can afford to lose only two GOP Senate votes if Democrats unanimously oppose the bill. Already, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has said he won’t support the plan in its current form. However, Johnson, like Collins left the door open to supporting the legislation if changes are made.
The House passed its version of the tax bill last week with no Democratic support, and Senate Republicans plan to vote after Thanksgiving. President Trump has said he wants a bill on his desk before Christmas.