WASHINGTON — The House plans to vote Wednesday night to pass a $78 billion tax package that includes an expansion of the child tax credit, sending it to the Senate, where the path ahead is uncertain.
The Republican-led chamber will aim to pass the bipartisan measure through a fast-track process that requires a two-thirds majority.
The bill has broad bipartisan support but does face objections from a few corners including liberal Democrats who opposed the business tax breaks, right-wing Republicans who took issue with the child tax credit policy and New York GOP members who complained that it didn’t expand the $10,000 cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes.
If it passes, the legislation would go to the Democratic-led Senate, where it will need 60 votes to pass. It’s not clear that the votes are there.
Among the skeptics in the Senate is Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who serves on the Finance Committee and directly Wednesday that he has concerns about the bill because it would make President Joe Biden “look good” in an election year.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declined to say Wednesday when the tax bill will come to a vote and whether it’ll be amended.
“I support the tax bill,” Schumer told reporters. “I’m working with Sen. Wyden to figure out the best way forward.”
The legislation would expand refundable child tax credits, aiming to provide relief to struggling families, particularly parents with multiple children. It would incrementally lift the $1,600 refundable cap on the credit and also adjust it for inflation. It would also resurrect some expired portions of the 2017 Republican tax cuts for businesses — including research and experimental expensing and small-business expensing.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office said the Kentucky Republican is deferring to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the ranking member on the Finance Committee, to lead the Senate GOP response.
Crapo said he wants the bill to go through committee, where it can be revised, and to have “a floor process where all the members can file their amendments.” One change he said he wants is to eliminate the provision that allows taxpayers to use a prior year’s income if it allows them to access a larger child tax credit.
“I think we need to fix the look-back requirement on the child tax credit so that we don’t diminish the work requirement. That’s one of them,” he said. “On the child tax credit, they’re allowing income earned in one year to be used in another year.”
“But I’m not discussing everything else,” he said. “We’ll see.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
