Democrats need to “tie tax changes to what we want to invest in rather than just saying we are going to take it away but not tell you what we are going to do instead,” said Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington State Democrat and co-chairman of the House Progressive Caucus. “We have to have our own counter-proposal. It can be rolled out in smaller pieces.”

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, who is leading the House’s effort to raise the corporate rate in the upcoming tax package, acknowledges it is just an opening bid for the negotiations for this year.

But 2020 Democratic presidential candidates see the 2017 tax law as the piggy bank for their proposals. Biden and former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke have both released proposals to combat climate change that would be paid for by reversing the tax cuts. Harris has called to roll back the tax cuts for the wealthy to pay for direct tax credits for low-income and middle-earning workers.

Trump promised affordable health care, then tried to rip care away from millions.

Said he was for working people, then passed a tax bill benefitting the top 1% & corporations.

He’s ripped babies from their parents & called neo-Nazis "fine people." It’s time for a new president.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 15, 2019

“A corporate tax rate hike — of any size — should not be considered a viable option as lawmakers consider ways to fund new legislative proposals,” said Katharine Cooksey, a spokeswoman for the RATE Coalition, a business group which supports the 21% rate. “When coupled with the threat of rising state corporate rates, any corporate rate increase at the federal level stands to drive taxes back up to a globally uncompetitive level, which in turn stunts U.S. job creation and wage increases.”

Other economic headwinds, such as Trump’s current and threatened tariffs on nearly all imports from China could further dim corporate optimism. Representative Andy Barr, a Kentucky Republican, supports extending the expired tax breaks in Neal’s package but said he’s worried that Democrats could roll back much of the economic stimulus in the tax cut bill.

“As trade uncertainty continues to swirl around there, it’s really important we give businesses the long-term certainty to invest,” Barr said.