Cynical political ploy or solid plan to boost the economy?
Touting a strong fiscal environment that they say is a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Republicans—led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas’ 8th district—revealed a combination of three bills on Monday that they called a sequel to the legislation passed last December.
Known colloquially as “Tax Reform 2.0,” the bills would make permanent “some temporary aspects of the 2017 law, which were passed with expiration dates to accommodate budget rules that allowed the GOP to pass the law with no Democratic support,” according to The Hill. “It would also include provisions aimed at boosting retirement savings and small business innovation.”
“In July, we received great news that the American economy had grown in the second quarter by 4.1 percent,” Brady claimed in a statement. “Those numbers were recently revised, and we learned that it grew at 4.2 percent. On top of our best annual growth rate in a decade, August was another solid month of job growth with private-sector earnings up as well. There is no question the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has changed the trajectory of our economy for the better.”
To keep that momentum going, he added, the House Ways and Means Committee will begin debating Tax Reform 2.0 legislation “this week.”
“The key part of this next step is to make the tax cuts for middle-class families and small businesses permanent,” he added. “Arcane Senate rules prevented us from doing so last year in the first tax cuts bill and many Democrats claimed they could not support the bill because those tax cuts for families would eventually lapse. This week, we have a great opportunity to work in a bipartisan fashion and deliver permanent tax relief to our hardworking families and small businesses. I’m excited to get started.”
Following an executive order signed by President Trump last week paving the way for more multiple employer plan use, the bills include provisions to boost retirement savings.