Washington, DC
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and other Democrats on the panel charged with reconciling the House and Senate versions of a GOP tax overhaul plan called on Treasury officials this week to brief lawmakers on the legislation’s potential impacts.
Neal led a group of conference committee Democrats in urging Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to provide the agency’s analysis of the GOP tax plan’s economic impact, as well as to personally brief the panel on the findings.
The congressman, who is the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, contended in a Thursday letter to Mnuchin that such a conversation on the legislation’s expected effects is needed as some economists’ findings appear to contradict the Trump administration’s views.
“Numerous independent experts have found that this tax bill would raise taxes on millions of Americans, produce little economic growth and add trillions to the national debt,” Neal wrote. “We would like to hear from you as a witness from the administration to share your opposing views and supporting evidence.”
Among those offering contrasting takes on the GOP tax plan, Neal offered, are: The Joint Committee on Taxation, a University of Chicago survey of prominent economists, Chief Moody’s Analytics economist Mark Zandi, Republican economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former Ronald Reagan economic adviser Bruce Bartlett, President George W. Bush’s former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and Goldman Sachs.
Contending there’s a bipartisan consensus that the GOP tax legislation will end popular deductions for many Americans, add over $1 trillion to the debt and require cuts to “essential programs,” Neal stressed that Mnuchin’s input would be vital as lawmakers work to reconcile the bill.
“Your views, especially to the extent that they rely on evidence different from the experts cited above, would be very helpful as we continue to consider the impact of this legislation,” he wrote. “We hope you will appear before the committee.”
Fellow conference committee members U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, D-Michigan; Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas; Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona; and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Florida, joined Neal in signing the letter.
Neal previously called on Mnuchin to join the Ways and Means Committee’s markup of the House Republican tax bill in late October.
The conference committee, which includes Democrats and Republicans from the U.S. House and Senate, must sort out differences between the chamber’s respective tax overhaul bills before a final version can be approved and sent to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The House voted along party lines last month to pass legislation that would cut the income tax brackets for individuals down to just four: 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent and 39.6 percent; roughly doubling the standard deduction to $24,000 for joint filers and surviving spouses and $12,000 for individual filers; and eliminating so-called “special interest” deductions, among other things.
The Senate, meanwhile, approved its own nearly $1.5 trillion tax overhaul bill on Saturday that would: drop the highest personal income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 38.5 percent, nearly double the standard deduction, essentially end the coverage mandate included in the Affordable Care Act and allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
