In remarks from the Senate floor Monday, Collins affirmed her support and detailed several amendments she sought that provided relief to middle income taxpayers.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Maine Sen. Susan Collins took to the Senate floor on Monday to announce her support of the Republican tax reform bill speeding its way through Congress.
Collins had voted for the Senate version of the $1.4 trillion bill on Dec. 1, but had not announced her support of the version that came out of a Senate-House conference committee.
The tax bill makes sweeping changes to the tax code, including reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, modest tax cuts for many middle- and lower-income families and larger tax cuts for wealthy Americans. The tax reform bill would increase the deficit by $1 trillion over 10 years after accounting for economic growth, according to official congressional analysis.
The bill, which could be voted on as early as Tuesday, repeals the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, which could lead to 13 million more uninsured Americans and premium increases, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Collins has said she wanted to see two ACA stabilization bills be approved, although those bills will almost certainly be voted on after tax reform. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he intends to attach those two bills to must-pass year-end spending bills, but there hasn’t been a similar commitment from House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Collins has been under intense pressure, and there have been protests almost daily in Maine and Washington urging her to vote “no” as well as advertising in Maine both supporting and opposing the tax bill.
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