Democrats focused on healthcare, not taxes, in the first batch of amendments to the Senate Republican tax bill Wednesday night, trying to raise the alarm about how the bill would affect Obamacare by repealing its individual mandate.
“This tax bill is now officially a healthcare bill,” Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Wednesday in the early going.
Republicans had been making progress toward passing legislation on taxes, something they never were able to do for healthcare.
Democrats on the panel offered several amendments to slow or undo the tax bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, if it had negative effects on the healthcare system.
One measure would require the Congressional Budget Office to certify that the bill would not increase uninsured rates or insurance premiums before the tax cuts could take effect. Another would have required the creation of a stability fund for state-run insurance exchanges. A third would have undone the corporate tax rate reduction if insurance coverage for substance abuse decreased. Other amendments would have required that the bill didn’t lead to lower insurance coverage for veterans or rural Americans.
Republicans voted down all the amendments or ruled them not in order.
Throughout the day, Democratic rhetoric ran hottest when senators talked about healthcare, not taxes.
“When I say this bill is a thief in the night, I mean it,” said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. “Ripping healthcare from people at the same time you’re jacking up their taxes.”
Wyden also offered amendments related to transparency, requiring that the bill receive scores from Congress’ budget experts and be available to the public for days before getting a vote.
“Let’s put down some protections that this reckless, hasty process isn’t going to hurt” taxpayers, he said.
Other Democratic amendments included one from Colorado’s Michael Bennet requiring that entitlement spending could not be cut to make up for any deficits created by the tax cuts and one from Casey requiring hearings for big changes that might be made in conference with the House. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio also introduced two amendments meant to prevent companies from offshoring jobs. All were voted down on partisan lines.
Wyden also forced the committee to vote on the House version of the tax bill that is set for a vote Thursday, saying he wanted to put Senate Republicans on the record on the measure. No Republicans took the bait, yielding a 0-26 vote on the amendment.
