WASHINGTON—Republicans are ready to whip a year-end tax-cut compromise through the House as Congress prepares to finish 2015 in a flurry of accomplishment that belies the partisan collisions sure to dominate the coming election year.
Though House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was leading a Democratic charge against the tax measure, GOP leaders seemed certain to push it through the chamber Thursday. That would set the stage for House passage Friday of a companion bill providing $1.1 trillion to finance government in 2016, leaving only Senate action before the 2,200-page bundle is shipped to President Barack Obama for his promised signature.
Though the tax bill would mostly renew scores of existing breaks that have lapsed or are about to, its scope was impressive and its victories distributed to Republicans and Democrats alike.
Tax credits for college expenses, child costs and lower-earning families would be made permanent, as would cuts for companies that do research or buy equipment. Also made permanent or at least extended were reductions for some charitable contributions, builders of energy-efficient homes, producers of Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum and owners of auto race tracks.
“I’m excited about this huge win for families, for job creators, for certainty for our economy,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Coupled with tax provisions House leaders stuffed into the spending bill to attract votes, the legislation would cost the government an estimated $680 billion over the next decade. That would pump federal deficits over that period, already projected to total an astronomical $7 trillion, even higher.
“It’s a significant tax relief measure and of course you know how Republicans like to cut taxes,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told The Associated Press.
As if they needed more encouragement, Republicans said the tax bill would make revamping the entire tax code next year easier by clearing those extensions out of the way now. GOP leaders hope to produce tax and health care overhaul measures next year, fully expecting vetoes but savoring the campaign-season opportunity to fire up conservative voters.
