The House’s top tax writer said Tuesday he is looking to pass a massive new package of tax law changes this year, hoping to strike a deal with Democrats to overhaul the IRS and preserve popular but temporary tax breaks.
House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady’s 297-page package, released this week, also includes what he called technical corrections to the GOP’s $1.5 trillion tax cut package approved a year ago.
“We’re hopeful that working with the Senate constructively we can find a path for moving this bill to the president’s desk by the time Congress adjourns,” Mr. Brady told reporters Tuesday. “We are open to any constructive dialogue with Democrats in the House [and] the Senate on this package.”
Democrats complained they were blindsided by the bill, though they are fans of some of the tax break extensions, such as the ones that promote energy efficiency.
“This is not how you negotiate. This is not how you try to find common ground,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “If I had had my way, we would have dealt with the consensus items a long time ago.”
Mr. Brady said Ways and Means Republicans reached out to their Democratic counterparts, and he had been counting on GOP senators to do the same.
“By design, we chose elements that have been well-discussed, that have always had bipartisan support,” he said. “And we’ll continue to engage constructively with anyone who wants to ultimately move this to the president’s desk.”
The bill does not include President Trump’s recently proposed tax cut for middle-class families — a campaign promise that seems to have quickly disappeared.
The package would extend tax breaks for a number of temporary provisions, such as benefits for energy-efficient homes and electric vehicles.
It also would permanently extend a railroad track maintenance tax credit, albeit at a rate of 30 percent rather than 50 percent, and extend a biodiesel tax credit for several years before gradually phasing it out after 2021.
The package also includes parts of the GOP’s “Tax Reform 2.0” package the House passed this year that would allow people who have children easier access to their retirement accounts, provide new oversight measures for the IRS, and allow new businesses to deduct start-up costs.
The package also clarifies that people affected by Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Florence, the wildfires in California, and other natural disasters should be entitled to federal disaster relief benefits.
It also includes a handful of technical corrections to last year’s tax overhaul, including fixes dealing with real estate investments.
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to take it up on Wednesday, which would clear the way for a floor vote as soon as Thursday.
But it could face a tougher climb in the more evenly divided Senate, where it will take support from at least nine Democrats to avert a possible filibuster.
Sen. Ben Cardin said he would prefer to hold off on passing corrections to the GOP’s tax law until next year, when Democrats will control the House and presumably have more sway over the final product.
“The question is, how do you get it done in a very short period of time, particularly when you have a lot of member interests that may not be compatible?” the Maryland Democrat said. “So in the Senate, it’s going to be extremely challenging to see how this gets done.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, another Democrat on the tax writing Senate Finance Committee, said any tax bill should try to address the just-announced layoffs at General Motors.
“It’s not a complete tax bill unless they take away the 50-percent-off coupon in their taxes that GM is going to use to move to Mexico,” Mr. Brown said, according to Politico. “They’ve got to include that.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.