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November 28, 2017
2017-2005

Budget Committee sends tax reconciliation bill to Senate floor

The Senate Budget Committee on November 28, 2017, voted 12-11 along party lines to send to the full Senate a reconciliation bill that combines the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" as approved by the Senate Finance Committee on November 16 with a separate measure from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to permit drilling in a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Concerns about the tax bill did not prevent Committee members Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Bob Corker (R-TN) from voting "yes" to report the combined measure, which is the final step prior to Senate consideration of the combined reconciliation bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said just prior to the Budget Committee meeting, after President Trump attended the weekly GOP policy luncheon, that Senate Republicans "fully intend" to act on tax reform in the next few days, and that efforts continue to address the concerns of some Senators.

Senator Johnson has been seeking, along with Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), more generous treatment for pass-through businesses than the 17.4% deduction under the Senate bill, which Johnson continued to say falls short of the 25% pass-through tax rate in a September GOP framework.

Another topic of concern is the bill's effect on the deficit. Senator Corker said he has been working "feverishly" with Senate Republicans and the White House on a mechanism to ensure fiscal responsibility should economic growth estimates under the bill not be realized. Corker previously said he could not support a tax bill that added to the federal deficit with macroeconomic effects taken into account.

Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold said in a November 27 letter to Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) that the optimistic estimate for completing a macroeconomic analysis of the Senate bill is late Wednesday, but it depends on a number of quality checks.

The combined reconciliation bill reported out of the Budget Committee, which added ANWR language to the tax bill, is attached.

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ATTACHMENT

Reconciliation Bill

 

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