HOUSE DEMS COME AROUND ON TAX DEAL One by one at today’s markup of a $78 billion tax bill, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee spoke out in disappointment, calling for more to be done to help low-income people and reduce childhood poverty. And then, one by one, all but three of them voted to send it to the House floor. This afternoon’s 40-3 committee vote put an exclamation point on a week of groaning and moaning about the bipartisan, bicameral deal hashed out by Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The big vote lends momentum to the bill — which pairs an expansion of the child tax credit with extensions for a host of corporate tax incentives — and puts new pressure on top congressional leaders to move it through the House in the coming weeks and get it enacted before tax filing season is fully underway. "When Congress works together, we can still achieve big things," Smith said inside the Longworth Building as snow piled up outside. "The bill before us today represents bipartisan policies that are proven and effective." Why some Dems balked: Democrats want to restore the generous child tax credit expansion included in the American Rescue Plan, which for 2021 offered most families a fully refundable $3,000-to-$3,600-per-child yearly credit, payable in monthly checks. Republicans have not been interested in extending that generous — and costly — benefit. Smith and Wyden instead negotiated a more modest expansion of the existing CTC that would incrementally ramp up the refundable portion of the credit, allowing more families to get their benefits as a check from the government. The deal would also make the credit available to more families with multiple children, although the longstanding rule stipulating that people must have at least $2,500 in income before they can begin to claim the credit would stay in place. Republicans blocked three amendments that would have, among other things, beefed up the deal’s CTC expansion by making the credit fully refundable again and allowing families to receive it in advance monthly checks. Why most came around: Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) — who ended up opposing the bill alongside Reps. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) — called the compromise “fundamentally unfair" given the scale of the corporate tax breaks included in the bill. “When that working mother with two children is paying an effective tax rate of 20 percent and this committee comes out in a snowstorm to provide $220 million in a tax refund to a corporation that is paying 2 percent ... I do question the wisdom of our colleagues," he said. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash,) and Don Beyer (D-Va.) also lamented that the CTC expansion’s $33.5 billion price tag was outstripped by the cost of the corporate tax goodies included in the bill. But they voted for it anyway, with members of both parties making the case that compromise was necessary. “Let’s face the reality: We’re in a divided government and the reality of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations is that not everyone gets everything they want,” said Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). But “we aren’t forced to get nothing and like it,” she added, quoting “Caddyshack.” What’s next: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has already endorsed the Smith-Wyden deal and the White House signaled support this afternoon, but Speaker Mike Johnson has not publicly commented on whether or when he’ll bring the bill to the floor. The IRS will start accepting individuals’ 2023 tax returns on Jan. 29. — Benjamin Guggenheim and Daniella Diaz
| 
