“I think she will be happy with” the way it turns out, said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 Republican. One of Collins’s goals -- preserving and temporarily enhancing a medical-expense deduction for individuals -- will be part of the compromise legislation, according to senior congressional aides.
Collins spokeswoman Annie Clark said the senator is “waiting to see the final version of the bill” before deciding how she’ll vote. She remains “very confident” that the promises to pass the two health care bills she wants by the end of the year “are going to be kept,” Clark said.
Another wild card is GOP Senator John McCain, whose office announced that he is currently away receiving treatment as he battles brain cancer and “looks forward to returning to work as soon as possible.” It’s not clear when that’ll be.
After more than a week of secret discussions in which House and Senate negotiators sought to resolve differences between their tax bills, details began emerging Wednesday -- just before the only public meeting of a House-Senate “conference committee” that’s officially charged with arriving at a compromise.
Alabama Election
Democrats called that meeting a “farce.” Republicans shot down their motions to delay action on taxes until the swearing in of Democratic Senator-elect Doug Jones, who defeated Republican Roy Moore in a state where Democrats haven’t won a Senate race since 1992. Before the results came in Tuesday, McConnell said the victor won’t be sworn in before the end of the 2017 session, leaving outgoing Senator Luther Strange, a reliable GOP vote, in the seat.
The emerging House-Senate Republican pact would repeal the corporate alternative minimum tax, allow a 20 percent deduction for “pass-through” entities, limit state and local deductions for income and property taxes to $10,000 and restrict mortgage interest deductions to loans worth less than $750,000.
The allowance for state income tax deductibility will help in the House, particularly among California GOP members. The leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus offered a warm reception to the new details Wednesday.
“We are still reviewing the parameters of the deal but the details reported so far are an encouraging direction towards a ultimate solution,” said Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.