Washington, DC
With Republicans having delayed the introduction of their plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code, Congressman Richard Neal, D-Springfield, urged House GOP leaders Wednesday to respectively slow down the process lawmakers will use to consider the high-profile legislation.
Neal, the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, penned a letter to Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, urging him to delay the panel markup set for next week and allow for “reasonable, informed deliberation” of the Republican tax plan.
The congressman further spoke out against the GOP-backed cap on retirement savings contributions for 401(k) plans reportedly included in the tax overhaul proposal.
Following Republicans’ decision to push back the introduction of their tax bill from Wednesday to Thursday, Neal called on Brady to also delay the Ways and Means Committee’s markup of the legislation, which is currently set for Monday.
Contending that Democratic members had already expressed concerns about the proposed timeframe for reviewing the bill, the congressman stressed that the delayed introduction of the tax plan only exacerbates those worries.
Neal, who further pointed to the tax bill’s potential impacts on all Americans, added that “it would be reckless in the extreme to rush this process through committee next week.”
“As I have said both publicly and privately: let’s slow down and get this right — the stakes are too high to bow to self-imposed deadlines and procedural gimmickry,” he wrote. “It is better to do this right than to do it fast.”
The Springfield Democrat urged Brady and other Republicans to look at President Ronal Reagan’s leadership during the last major tax overhaul effort in 1986. Then, Neal argued, the Ways and Means Committee held 30 hearings, subcommittees held 12 hearings, more than 450 witnesses testified and the panel took 26 days to mark up the bill.
The congressman also renewed his call for daytime consideration of the tax overhaul plan and to avoid a “hastily drafted bill being subjected to unrealistic and artificial deadlines.”
“Giving your colleagues one-and-a-half workdays between bill unveiling and markup is unwise and unfair, both for members of this committee and for the taxpayers to whom we answer,” he argued. “So far, this process has confirmed every negative stereotype the public holds of this body … If this bill is worthy of you and the taxpayers of this country, then it should be able to stand up to the scrutiny of a normal hearing and markup process. If it can’t, then it should never come before the House.”
Aside from taking issue with the proposed schedule for considering Republicans’ tax plan, Neal raised concerns about reports that it includes a proposed cap on how much money individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans on a pre-tax basis.
The congressman argued that such a cap would provide less of an incentive for individuals to save for retirement and decrease small businesses’ incentive to sponsor retirement plans.
“Taaxing workers retirement savings now with a promise of tax savings in 40 years only worsens our nation’s retirement crisis,” he said in a statement. “The Republicans are phasing out savings to pay for a tax cut for the people at the top. Democrats are trying to make it easier for people to plan for their future.”
Although Republicans are exepcted to propose changes to tax-protected retirement savings plans,Brady, said Tuesday that such proposals are in flux and 401(k)s could be left alone, the Washington Post reported.
