WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, issued the following statement after voting against the Republican tax bill in the Senate:
“Today Republicans have made it clear where their priorities stand. They’ve abandoned working American families while recklessly blowing up the deficit in order to reward their wealthy friends and corporations with a tax cut that they do not need. When this legislation is fully implemented, millions of middle-class families will face a tax increase.
“Republicans talked and talked about simplicity. But with all the loopholes and giveaways for special interests, Republicans have made the tax code more complex. They said they would reduce the number of tax brackets, but they didn’t. And, at the last minute, they inserted additional tax breaks for the wealthy, cutting the top tax rate for individuals with incomes of $500,000 or more.
“Republicans also used the tax bill to undercut health care coverage that Americans count on, repealing a key provision of the Affordable Care Act that will result in 13 million Americans losing their health insurance over the next decade. And health insurance premiums paid by many others will increase by about 10 percent in most years.
“This tax plan puts at risk the jobs of public school teachers, police officers, and firefighters by capping the deduction for property taxes and state and local income taxes. They even opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.
“The Republican plan fails to meet our country’s needs. It does not deliver tax relief to those who need it. It is also fiscally irresponsible, deepens inequality in the country, and it won’t do much to accelerate economic growth. I am extremely disappointed that my Republican colleagues jammed this legislation through both chambers without any input from Democrats, putting the interests of their donors and corporations ahead of those of the millions of families across this country who will be devastated by this tax plan.”
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For more information, please contact Latoya Veal at Latoya_Veal@jec.senate.gov or 202-224-0379.
