COTTON VOTES no on tax break extension; other Arkansans in House support bill.

WASHINGTON — Arkansas’ all-Republican U.S. House delegation divided 3-to-1 Wednesday on a bill to extend tax breaks that taxpayers already receive.

The breaks, mostly for business but also affecting some homeowners, expired last year, but the bill extends them retroactively to the end of this year to allow taxpayers to claim them in the tax filing season in 2015.

U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, Steve Womack and Tim Griffin voted for the bill, which passed 378-46 and now goes to the Senate. U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton voted against it.

Cotton, who lives in Dardanelle, said in a statement that the bill is a temporary fix for a problem that needs a long-term solution. Cotton was elected to the U.S. Senate in November.

“It wrongly extends special-interest tax breaks and adds nearly $45 billion to our massive deficit. What’s worse, the bill’s single largest handout is to wind farms in states like California while Arkansas’s productive coal[-based] industry has seen nothing but higher costs and increased regulation,” he said.

The House and Senate should have agreed on an overhaul to the tax system and let tax breaks for industries seen by some as special interests expire, Cotton said.

“A better solution is to provide businesses, farmers, and families with the certainty they need through tax reform,” Cotton said. “Arkansans can rest assured I will pursue real changes to our tax code in the years ahead.”

In a statement, Crawford, who lives in Jonesboro, said he supported the extension because it included tax provisions set to expire, such as the accelerated depreciation used by Arkansas agriculture producers.

“I believe that it is imperative the 114th Congress undertake reforms to our tax code that will allow for greater long-term planning by individuals and businesses while also recognizing that we simply can no longer ignore our now $18 trillion in debt and the impact it has across our entire economy,” Crawford said.

Womack agreed that the tax code needs to be changed.

“I applaud the certainty that this bill provides hardworking taxpayers across the country and hope it paves the way for a complete overhaul of our broken tax system,” Womack said.

The House approved the bill after the White House threatened to veto a bill that would have made permanent changes to the tax code that the administration said helped businesses more that families.

Griffin, who lives in Little Rock, said in a statement that he is disappointed that the changes couldn’t go forward.

“[Wednesday’s] bill is not the answer to our broken tax system, but it is critical to preventing onerous tax increases on American workers, families and businesses,” he said.