THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015

H.Res. 101 – Rule Providing for Consideration of Both H.R. 644 – “Fighting Hunger Incentive Act of 2015” (Rep. Reed – Ways and Means) and H.R. 636 – “America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015” (Rep. Tiberi – Ways and Means/Budget) (One Hour of Debate). The Rules Committee has recommended one Rule which provides for consideration of two bills.

For H.R. 644, the Rules Committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for ninety minutes of of general debate equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the resolution.

For H.R. 636, the Rules Committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for ninety minutes of general debate equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the resolution.

The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Ms. Slaughter of New York to consider both bills under an open Rule. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 644– “Fighting Hunger Incentive Act of 2015” (Rep. Reed – Ways and Means) (90 Minutes of Debate). This bill is a combination of four Republican bills aimed at permanently extending tax provisions related to charitable contributions, which have traditionally be considered as part of extenders packages.  

The first bill in this package would permanently extend the charitable deduction for firms that donate food from their inventories.

The second bill would permanently extend the charitable deduction for donations of qualified conservation easements.

The third bill would permanently extend the tax free exclusion of charitable contributions up to $100,000 from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) for those over age 70 ½.

The fourth bill would create a new permanent provision that simplifies the excise tax on investment income for private foundations - replacing the current two-tiered structure with a single rate of one percent.

The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that this package of permanent tax cuts will add $14.2 billion to the deficit over 10 years, and Republicans have chosen to bring the bill to the Floor without providing an offset.

This package of permanent tax cuts come on the heels of several other permanent tax extenders bills that Republicans brought to the Floor without offsets last Congress and were dead on arrival in the Senate. However, those bills were only considered as a ‘Plan B’, once it became clear that House Republicans could not support their own comprehensive tax reform strategy authored by Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, which did not add to our nation’s deficit.  It is hypocritical of new Chairman Paul Ryan to say that he is serious about tax reform and then bring these bills to the Floor as his first order of business.

The choice made by House Republicans to address these provisions one by one, while adding their cost to the deficit, represents an irresponsible approach that will only make reaching comprehensive tax reform and fixing our broken tax system harder.

Ways & Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has said that, “The people deserve a government that works for them, not one that buries them in more debt.” Unfortunately, bringing permanent, unpaid-for tax cuts to the Floor does exactly the opposite. The White House agrees and has issued a SAP stating that the President’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill. If House Republicans are serious about fiscal responsibility, they should work with Democrats to make the tough decisions necessary to address our broken tax code through comprehensive tax reform, which would address these and other tax extenders in a way that does not add to deficits and does not limit our ability to invest in domestic discretionary priorities. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for H.R. 644:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 644:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Friday, February 13: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to consider H.R. 636 – “America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015” (Rep. Tiberi – Ways and Means/Budget).