House Republicans defeated the first two Democratic amendments to the tax reform bill Tuesday, swatting away measures to restore the state and local deduction to the bill and to undo the tax reform if it doesn’t increase economic growth.
Early in the second day of the House Ways and Means Committee markup of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Colo., offered an amendment to end the entire tax bill after two years if the economic growth promised by Republicans didn’t materialize and the tax cuts added to the federal deficit.
“I think we all are concerned about the increase in the national debt,” he said, referring to his provision as “a fail-safe mechanism” to ensure the bill didn’t increase deficits.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., offered an amendment to restore the state and local tax deduction to its full value. The GOP bill would limit deductions for state and local property taxes to $10,000 and eliminate them for income or sales taxes.
Pascrell’s amendment would have kept the deduction in the bill and raised the corporate tax rate to offset the lost tax revenue. Democrats have sought to portray the elimination of the deduction as a tax increase on families.
Republicans described both amendments poison pills meant to sink the bill. Both amendments were defeated on party lines after hours of debate.
The markup is expected to continue until Thursday when the panel’s Republicans hope to pass the bill so it can be on the House floor next week.
