House Republicans did widely consult with outside experts on one aspect of the bill: its tax cuts. These also happened to win more applause from conservatives.
The House Ways and Means Committee met with a number of conservative tax experts, as well as small business groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and state leaders, according to a Republican aide.
“We were definitely consulted on specific ideas and input,” said Alex Hendrie, director of tax policy at the conservative Americans for Tax Reform. “I wouldn’t say ‘oh, we wrote this,’ but there was definitely a lot of great input back and forth.”
“The direction they wanted to go was out there, so I was surprised that people all of a sudden seemed to wake up and say ‘I can’t believe they want to do this,’ when it’s been out there for a year,” he added.
The House bill eliminates taxes on the wealthy, insurers and pharmaceutical companies that helped pay for Obamacare. Health-care industries may want to focus their attention on those tax cuts in the Senate where they aren’t a sure thing. Republican senators have said it’s unclear whether their chamber will keep all of the tax cuts because they might need some of the funds to provide more affordable coverage.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.