Tax policy could become one of the biggest sticking points in the Senate. Sanders and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., have taken issue with a House proposal to lift the cap on state and local tax deductions to $80,000 from $10,000 through 2030.
The policy — which Pelosi has defended — would disproportionately help wealthy Americans as part of a bill Democrats have sold as a boon to working families. It would also cost the Treasury revenue.
“You can’t be a political party that talks about demanding the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, and then end up with a bill that gives large tax breaks to millionaires. You can’t do that,” Sanders, the Senate Budget Committee chair, said in a tweeted statement Thursday. “The hypocrisy is too strong. It’s bad policy, it’s bad politics.”
In a separate statement Friday, Sanders cited tax policy, drug prices, Medicare expansion and climate policy as he pledged to “strengthen the Build Back Better Act” in the Senate.
Democrats will likely have to forge a compromise around the tax deductions. A handful of House Democrats from high-tax states such as New York and New Jersey made lifting the cap a condition for supporting the bill.
Another tax plan that could surface in the Senate is a proposal from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to tax billionaires’ assets. Golden said Friday that inclusion of the Senate Finance Committee chair’s levy on billionaires or tweaks to the cap on state and local deductions could get him to support the legislation when it comes back to the House.
In other possible changes, the Senate parliamentarian will likely strike a House proposal to establish limited legal protections for millions of undocumented immigrants.
After the House passed its version of the bill Friday, Pelosi acknowledged she will likely have to resolve differences with the Senate.
“This bill will now be reshaped to their committees and at that point we’ll see where we need to, shall we say, reconcile our differences. But at the end of the day, we’ll have a great bill,” she said.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/19/house-passes-build-back-better-act-what-happens-next-in-the-senate.html