Wyden Statement on Tax-Related Parliamentarian Rulings
Washington, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the statement below after the Senate Parliamentarian advised that additional provisions related to tax policy in the Senate Republican reconciliation bill violate the Senate’s Byrd Rule and would be subject to a 60-vote point of order threshold if included in the bill on the floor. These include:
- Burdensome red tape and delays imposed on taxpayers who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit.
- A new tax credit for contributions to “scholarship granting organizations,” a scheme to establish a federal school voucher program that would force middle class families to subsidize the private educations of the rich.
- A scheme to eliminate background checks, registrations and other safety measures that apply to easily-concealed firearms and gun silencers.
- Two special carveouts exempting certain religious institutions from the tax on college and university endowments. (Republicans also conceded that a proposal to target schools based on international student enrollment would not comply with the Byrd Rule and stated that they planned to drop it.)
Republicans may drop additional provisions, including a proposal to scrap the IRS Direct File program, in the face of parliamentary challenges by Senate Democrats. Other issues have yet to be decided, including the Republicans’ unprecedented use of a “current policy baseline” to hide the true cost of trillions of dollars in handouts to corporations and the wealthy.
“We’re continuing to fight this bill with everything we’ve got, and we’re knocking out more and more provisions that would cause real hardship for American families.
“As if working people in America don’t have it hard enough already, Republicans cooked up a scheme to cut their incomes by tying up the Earned Income Tax Credit in red tape and making it harder to claim. The ruling against that provision is a big deal, and we’re going to stay ready to fight it if Republicans try to find a way to revive it.
“It’s no surprise that Republicans will jump at any opportunity to please the gun lobby by rolling back gun safety measures, but that kind of policy does not belong in a reconciliation bill.
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