Sen. Susan Collins not ready to back Republican tax plan, still seeking changes

Donovan Slack | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Pence promising tax reform this year Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the Tax Foundation's 80th annual dinner in Washington, after the House voted Thursday to approve a $1.5 trillion overhaul of the nation's tax code. Pence says "now the ball is in the Senate's court." (Nov. 17)

WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, wouldn’t say Sunday if she would vote against the current Republican tax plan under consideration in the Senate, but she ticked off a lengthy list of changes she hopes to see before any vote.

Collins, one of several key votes Republicans will need to pass the plan, said on CNN’s State of the Union that she hoped two other pieces of legislation are passed or rolled into the measure, including one creating high-risk pools for insurance for less healthy individuals and another shoring up Obamacare.

She said such changes would be particularly necessary because the current version of bill removes the Obamacare mandate for individuals to buy health insurance, which Collins said could drive up premiums and “cancel out the tax cut that they would get.”

She also doesn’t think the top corporate tax rate needs to be cut as steeply as it is in the current legislation, which drops the rate from 35% to 20% in 2019.

Collins also wants to restore a deduction for state and local taxes. She declined to say the tax plan is a giveaway to the wealthy — a standard Democratic talking point.

“It benefits people of all tax brackets,” Collins said, but said she wants to skew more of the benefits toward lower and middle income families. “There are provisions of the bill that I would like to see changed.”

Republicans can afford to lose only two GOP Senate votes if Democrats unanimously oppose the bill. Already, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has said he won’t support the plan in its current form. However, Johnson, like Collins left the door open to supporting the legislation if changes are made.

He said last week that the the current measure benefits large corporations more than small businesses.

“Unfortunately, neither the House nor Senate bill provide fair treatment, so I do not support either in their current versions,” Johnson said. “I do, however, look forward to working with my colleagues to address the disparity so I can support the final version.”

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The House passed its version of the tax bill last week with no Democratic support, and Senate Republicans plan to vote after Thanksgiving. President Trump has said he wants a bill on his desk before Christmas.