Federal Spotlight: Tax Reform Advances

October 26, 2017

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate both passed 2018 budget resolutions this month, which is the first step in the process of passing comprehensive tax reform. The House passed their budget resolution on a vote of 219-206. Their budget calls for any kind of tax reform to be revenue neutral. Senate Republicans passed their resolution on a 51-49 vote. Their budget allows for tax cuts to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. The next steps are for a joint budget to be approved, which means the House could simply accept the Senate’s budget or both chambers could go to a conference committee to hash out their differences. Right now, the House is set to vote on the Senate budget resolution as early as Thursday. Once a budget is passed, it will unlock the reconciliation process, which allows for a simple majority vote in the Senate to pass a tax bill. The Trump Administration and other Republican leaders have said that at the latest they would like to have tax reform passed and signed into law by the end of this year.