Boehner: House Democrats Will Be Able to Bring Senate Tax Plan to Floor
By Jonathan Nicholson and Heather M. Rothman
Publication Date: 07/27/2012
House Democrats will be able to bring up the Senate tax bill, which would allow the temporary 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire for upper-income earners, in the looming House debate over taxes, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said July 26.
While seeming wary of Boehner's offer, House Democrats said they expect to offer the bill (S. 3412), which passed the Senate July 25 on a mostly party-line 51-48 vote.
“If our Democrat colleagues want to offer the president's plan or the Senate Democrat plan, we're more than happy to give them the vote,” Boehner said at his weekly press conference.
“We'll see what they'll offer in the Rules Committee, but it's our belief that they ought to be able to have the vote,” Boehner said. The House is expected to vote a on Republican-favored bills in the July 30 week to extend the tax cuts for all earners and set up a framework for overhauling the tax code in 2013.
Will Provide ‘Certainty,’ Cantor Says
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the Senate passage of the Democratic bill that allows the upper-income tax cuts to expire meant it was Republicans holding tax cuts hostage for the rest of Americans.
“It's a matter of fairness. We call upon our Republican colleagues to bring this bill to the floor – today they could do it, we could have it today be on the President's desk, signed into law for this weekend. We absolutely must do it though before we leave for the August break,” she said.
But Republicans say their bill (H.R. 8) would provide an extension of tax breaks for all Americans, regardless of income, while a separate bill (H.R. 6169) would provide for a process to overhaul the tax code.
“Together, these bills will ensure that no American faces a tax hike on Jan. 1, while providing our small businessmen and women with the certainty to grow and create jobs,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said July 26.
In his weekly meeting with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the House Democratic whip, Cantor said Democrats would be given the chance to offer President Obama's tax plan as a standalone amendment as well as a motion to recommit, a last-ditch procedural vote usually seen as a test of party unity rather than a substantive vote. A skeptical Hoyer said he hoped “we would not parse words” on whether Democrats would get a chance to offer the Senate bill.
“I hope that the Republican side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, does not choose the amendment we are to offer. Let us choose it,” he said.
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The complete text of this article can be found in the BNA Daily Tax Report, July 27, 2012. For comprehensive coverage of taxation, pension, budget, and accounting issues, sign up for a free trial or subscribe to the BNA Daily Tax Report today. Learn more »
© 2012, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
