Finance Committee Passes Historic Tax Overhaul

Utah Senator Says, “After months of hard work and nearly a week of robust deliberation on the merits of this legislation, the Senate Finance Committee acted tonight to advance the most comprehensive tax reform bill in a generation. This is a historic moment and one we should all be proud of.”

WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) released the following statement after advancing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tonight after a near week-long markup in the Senate Finance Committee:

“From the outset of this process, we sought to craft a strong pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-family tax overhaul that will move America forward and modernize our nation’s tax system to meet the challenges and opportunities of today. After months of hard work and nearly a week of robust deliberation on the merits of this legislation, the Senate Finance Committee acted tonight to advance the most comprehensive tax reform bill in a generation. This is a historic moment and one we should all be proud of.

“By nearly doubling the standard deduction, lowering tax rates, and doubling the child tax credit, we have made good on our promise to deliver a bill that will improve the lives of average Americans who have been hit by nearly a decade of sluggish economic growth. Bringing our outdated tax structure into the 21st century will help level the playing field for businesses – both small and large – and ensure we can keep more jobs and more investment here at home.

“This is an initiative that focuses on building a better economy for American workers and a better future for generations to come. With this bill, we act to strengthen the middle class, reward hard-working taxpayers, and get our economy back on track. While we’ve cleared a major hurdle tonight, there is still much work to be done and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this across the finish line.”

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Hatch Closing Remarks at Finance Committee Markup of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today delivered the following closing remarks at the committee markup of the Senate tax overhaul package, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

We will soon vote on final passage of the chairman’s mark, as modified, of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

I want to thank my colleagues – from both sides – for their participation, particularly today as we’ve gone through amendments.

This is a good bill that delivers on our promise to provide middle-class tax relief and grow our economy.

Most importantly, this bill will allow hard-working, middle-class families to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. By nearly doubling the standard deduction, lowering rates, and doubling the child tax credit, we have made good on our promise to produce a bill that will improve the lives of average Americans who have been hit by nearly a decade of sluggish economic growth. Working- and middle-class families will also see gains in the form of higher wages as a result of a more vibrant economy.

This is a bill I think both parties can ultimately support.

As I’ve said many times throughout this debate, both Republicans and Democrats have long supported the key elements of this bill.

For example, the bill lowers the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, in line with bipartisan proposals that have been discussed and advanced by members of this committee. Let’s not understate the importance of that.

Our current corporate tax rate is a major drag on our economy. It drives business, jobs, and investment offshore. It slows growth and contributes to wage stagnation.

That’s why President Obama, Simpson-Bowles, and even our beloved ranking member have put forward concrete plans to bring down our corporate tax rate and improve our nation’s ability to globally compete.

The bill also fixes our international system so that, going forward, American businesses will not owe taxes on income earned by foreign subsidiaries. Our current system also drives companies offshore because it puts American companies at a disadvantage in the world marketplace.

I don’t think anyone of us should stand for that. We should all want America to be a good place to do business and give our job creators a chance to compete. That is how we improve wages, create jobs, and grow our economy.

Of course, most of the debate we’ve had here has been about what this bill will do for American workers and families. There have been some differences of opinion as our two sides have interpreted the available data differently.

I won’t reopen that debate now.

However, I do want to reiterate that all of us have sat here as the top official at JCT has confirmed time and time again that people in the middle tax brackets will receive the largest proportional tax cuts under the mark. He’s also told us several times that those at the very top will see their share of the overall tax burden go up.

That isn’t a random occurrence. We have worked for months to find the right combination of reforms that will allow us to make good on our promise to cut taxes for the middle-class.

By reducing rates, growing the standard deduction, and significantly expanding the child tax credit, tens of millions of middle-class families will see their taxes go down. Others will see their tax liability go away completely.

Let me reiterate that a middle-class family of four making the median family income will see their taxes go down by $1,500 a year or more under the modified mark. That’s at least $125 in extra take home pay every month.

For a family with two kids making $73,000 a year, that amount could go toward their mortgage or car payments. It could help them bring down credit card balances or start a college savings account for their kids.

I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished on behalf of the middle class. I won’t count any proverbial chickens before they’ve hatched – no pun intended – but I think we’ve produced a bill that can and will pass both chambers.

As I said at the outset, I still hope to get some Democratic votes for the bill, if not here, then on the floor.

But, if we have to vote the bill out of committee with only Republicans in support, we’re prepared to do that.

I want to close by thanking my colleagues on the majority side for their assistance in producing this bill and getting it to this point. Every one of them has played an integral part of this effort, and most of them, like me, have been working on this for a number of years.

Every member on the Republican side has brought unique perspective and expertise to this process, and it wouldn’t have gotten this far without them.

As for the Democratic members of the committee, I will say that I admire their commitment to their beliefs and principles and for their participation in this debate.

Let’s be clear about something: I want this committee to work in a bipartisan fashion. I look forward to having an opportunity to lock arms once again with our Democrat colleagues, and I will do my best to find these opportunities.

For now, let’s vote on the mark. Let’s take advantage of this major opportunity to do something good for the American people. I hope all of my colleagues – Republicans and Democrats alike – will vote in favor of the mark.

To view a full copy of the chairman’s modified mark, click here. A score of the modified mark may be found here.

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Wyden Statement at Finance Committee Markup on New JCT Score, Senate Republican Tax Bill

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today gave the following remarks at the Finance Committee on new analysis that shows the Senate Republican tax bill will raise taxes on hard working Americans by billions of dollars to pay for tax cuts for multinational corporations.

Full remarks as prepared for delivery below:

Colleagues, let’s start today off with the jaw-dropping news that just broke in the last hour. According to the latest figures from JCT, in 2021, families earning $30,000 and under are going to get walloped by a tax hike of nearly six billion dollars to pay for this handout to multinational corporations. A six billion dollar tax hike on low-income Americans. And by 2027, the news is even worse. A decade out, this bill raises taxes by $27 billion on families earning $75,000 and under. And meanwhile, corporations across the board are guaranteed a cut.

This process ought to end right here and right now. I do not know how anybody can go home to their constituents and explain why it’s a good idea to hike taxes on parents who are barely staying afloat to pay for a massive corporate handout. What’s happening here is shameful. Republicans in this room spent all day yesterday saying that repealing the individual mandate is a tax cut, and this is proof positive that that was dead wrong. This is what happens when you legislate in secret with such reckless haste. This amounts to writing tax policy in the dark, and the majority is doing its best to keep the lights turned off.

The first version of this bill that came out late last week was a huge tax hike for millions in the middle class. Then on Tuesday, after two entire days of markup had passed, there was a new version that attacked Americans’ health care.

Now there’s this shocking new information this morning. At this rate, Republicans are going to test the limits of exactly how many different ways hard working Americans can be forced to pay for corporate handouts.

The public is now getting a bead on what’s ahead. Once this Finance Committee process wraps up, this bill is headed straight back behind closed doors. Senators are headed home at the end of this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. But the majorities from the House and Senate are going to be hashing out the differences in their two bills. They’re going to cut a backroom deal and make $10 trillion in tax changes on the fly. If you’re watching at home and it’s been a minute since you took civics class, here’s what that means. While you’re reaching for the cranberry sauce, Republicans are going to be reaching for your pocketbooks to give handouts to multinational corporations.

This is not a real, honest-to-God attempt to have a full bipartisan debate on tax reform that gives everybody a chance to get ahead. There were amendments to bring some sunshine to the process. There was an amendment to protect Medicare and Social Security. Another on protecting veterans.

In my view, the real stunner was what happened yesterday when Senator Brown brought up an amendment dealing with keeping jobs from going overseas. Senator Brown has been leading a crusade to try to get this proposal into law. He’s handed it to the president twice -- and both times the president has said he supports it. I know because I was there. And when you’re dealing with a smart, bipartisan proposal that’s all about protecting and creating red-white-and-blue jobs, Senators on both sides ought to be looking for every possible way to make it happen.

That is not what happened yesterday. Yesterday it was said the amendment was non-germane because he didn’t have a score. But he submitted the provision for a score nearly a week ago, just a matter of hours after the Chairman’s bill became public. You could not have asked Senator Brown to do any better than that. So in my judgement, this looks like an attempt to find a convenient excuse to say no.

If a pro-jobs idea as important as Senator Brown’s gets blocked without any valid reason, then it’s hard to see what this process is about other than getting this bill out of committee and back behind closed doors.

And this morning people across the country are waking up to confirmation that this bill pays for massive handouts to corporations with a multi-billion dollar tax hike on people who can’t afford it.

Colleagues, this is nothing like the thoughtful, measured bipartisan approach that defines Reagan-style tax reform. This is not a process that brings together the best ideas from both sides. This is an exercise in legislating with reckless haste, and working families and middle class families can now see that it will have disastrous consequences for them. When the history of the Finance Committee is written, this will be a dark, dark chapter.