Rep. Jim Jordan: House GOP Tax Bill Expected to Be Released Next Week
Former Freedom Caucus chairman says caucus members support accelerated timetable
A House Republican tax bill is expected to be released next week, marked up the following week and brought to the floor the week after that, Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan said Monday night.
The former Freedom Caucus chairman said he and other members of the hard-line conservative caucus will support the Senate budget resolution that the House is expected to vote on Thursday, thanks to assurances that the tax bill will move under that accelerated timetable.
“It basically boils down to the nature of the United States Senate and what we know was likely to come out if there was a conference committee, which was probably going to be a bill closer to what the Senate had put together,” Jordan said.
The House Freedom Caucus did not take an official position on the budget during its weekly meeting Monday. Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows told reporters afterward there will be “yes” and “no” votes coming from the caucus but he expects the budget to pass. The North Carolina Republican said he has not received any urgent messages from the whip team, suggesting leadership has the necessary support for the budget vote.
Despite the anticipated quick release, Republicans have yet to make some key decisions, such as what to do with the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction.
New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur, who opposes repealing the deduction, said Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady told him Monday about the proposal he was currently considering but he declined to reveal what that is.
“In the end, he’s counting votes and that’s determining how much he moves,” MacArthur said.
The congressman said more than 21 members are standing united in opposition to repeal of the SALT deduction, which would be enough to sink a measure if no Democrats support the tax bill. Republicans currently hold 239 seats with vacancies stemming from the resignations of GOP Reps. Tim Murphy and Jason Chaffetz.
Meetings to discuss the SALT deduction are taking place Tuesday and later in the week, MacArthur said.
One idea that has been discussed is placing an income cap on who qualifies for the deduction. Proposals that focus on allowing property taxes to be deducted and excluding income taxes also remain on the table, MacArthur said. He said the Joint Committee on Taxation is scoring one of those proposals this week, but declined to say which.
“We have to have a compromise before a bill comes out,” he said. “You don’t want a bill to fail.”