WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tax rates and mortgage interest are getting headlines with today's release of the tax legislation that might actually become law, but several other features - involving medical expenses, tuition assistance and development tools for cities like Cleveland - matter, too.

These tax breaks would have been killed had the House of Representatives prevailed. They survived because of the insistence of senators, although some of the provisions have changes or time limits that will displease taxpayers who use them.

Still, it appears the voices of mayors, college officials and, to a much more limited extent, heath care advocates were heard (but not enough to save the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to buy insurance, which will end).

I look forward to both the House and Senate passing this legislation next week and the president signing these historic tax cuts before Christmas: https://t.co/GJVjdaOvV4 — Rob Portman (@senrobportman) December 16, 2017

Ohio's U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican, was on the House-Senate conference committee that hammered out today's bill. He has been criticized by editorial boards and Democrats for supporting a bill that gives priority to corporate tax cuts and could drive up the cost of health insurance. But he was also among the lawmakers pushing to keep the tax breaks mentioned below.

"Rob had worked throughout the process to improve the bill, including preserving key tax incentives that benefit Ohio," said Kevin Smith, Portman's deputy chief of staff and communications director. "Overall, these reforms will help spur investment and job creation around the state."

Ohio's Democratic U.S. Sen, Sherrod Brown, blasted the process in a statement that accused Republicans of "planning to steal the money Ohioans have paid into Medicare and Social Security, to pay for the hole they are blowing in the deficit."

"I offered to work with the President and Republicans, and I introduced multiple amendments that could have put real money in the pockets of Ohioans," said a statement from Brown. "Instead Washington chose to cut taxes for millionaires and corporations and pay for it by cutting Medicare and kicking people off their health insurance."

Medical expense deduction:

You used to be able to deduct medical expenses that exceeded 7.5 percent of your income, a tax feature especially popular - and demanded - by seniors and others with high health care costs. Then the threshold for claiming the deduction went up to 10 percent in 2013, although it stayed at 7.5 percent for seniors until this year.

The House-Senate conference report that could be voted on next week will make the threshold revert to 7.5 percent for everyone during the current tax year, according to a Republican familiar with the negotiations. It'll be 7.5 percent again for 2018.

Call it a victory for those who pushed for this lower level. But it will go back to 10 percent for everyone in 2019.

Tuition:

Congress will still allow tax deductions for student loan interest.

It also won't treat tuition assistance - given to graduate and professional students who teach of conduct research - as taxable income. The House had wanted to add the value of such assistance to a student's income for tax purposes, so that a grad student getting $30,000 in waived tuition at Case Western Reserve University, for example, would have to pay tax as if they had earned an extra $30,000.

The #GOPTaxScam has grown more outrageous and cowardly with each version. The American people see it for exactly the #BillionairesFirst con job it is. https://t.co/DRmZw0tdcD — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 15, 2017

Senate negotiators prevailed in keeping that proposal out.

Also out: The House proposal to treat tuition waivers for families of college employees as taxable income. The fringe benefit, which can be valuable to the families of college staff and help colleges recruit employees despite paying generally lower wages than in other industries, will continue tax-free.

Historic Preservation:

Older, sometimes-dilapidated buildings dot the landscape of older cities like Cleveland. It can cost too much to tear them down to be worth a developer's time. That's where the Historic Preservation Tax Credits came in, providing a financial incentive worth 20 percent of the costs of rehabilitation for buildings on the federal National Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Preservation Tax Credit won't go away in the House-Senate compromise. This should please developers and city officials in Cleveland, where city officials say the historic credit has been used on 178 projects in the last 15 years.

New Markets Tax Credits:

Another win for impoverished cities: The tax bill will keep tax credits given to investors who build or renovate in areas with high poverty and a lack of private investment. The New Markets Tax Credit provides a 39 percent credit, taken over seven years, on new investment, and is often used in multi-partner projects coordinated by a city or public agency.

Our final push for pro-growth #TaxReform was one of the major focal points this week in Washington. Here is my #WeekInReview: pic.twitter.com/cIjbyhB1Tn

-- Rep. Jim Renacci (@RepJimRenacci) December 15, 2017

Examples of their use have included revival of the vacant Joseph & Feiss Co. garment factory on Cleveland's west side for Menlo Park Academy, a public charter school for gifted children; the Snavely Group's $60 million redevelopment of the northwest corner of West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue, being turned into the Music Settlement's west side outpost, along with a small grocery store and other commercial tenants; Lincoln Electric's new welding technology center in Euclid, and a new Saint Martin de Porres high school in Cleveland's St. Clair-Superior neighborhood.

The provision will expire in 2026.

Private-activity bonds:

Government agencies get a break on the cost of borrowing by issuing tax-exempt bonds. The bonds - they're like a loan, with the buyers providing the money - pay less interest to the buyers, but those interest earnings are exempt from federal income taxes, so they're a fair deal for investors looking to cut their tax bills.

Until now, private interests such as builders, hospitals and even factories have been able to use these bonds to borrow cheaply, as long as they were issued by a public agency - the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority and Cuyahoga County are issuers of choice in Northeast Ohio - and the money went to a project deemed to serve the public. Whether that's fair is an old debate, but local officials say they have been another essential economic development tool for building housing and hospitals.

Mayor Frank Jackson has cited the use of these bonds for the $16 million Miceli Dairy expansion and $9 million to help Charter Steel expand. The bonds "have created new living wage jobs for Clevelanders and increased tax revenue available for essential service," Jackson and City Council President Kevin J. Kelley recent said in a letter to congressional leaders.

The tax package will keep them.

cleveland.com Washington reporter Sabrina Eaton contributed to this story.