The appropriations bill passed by the Senate last week authorizes a spending plan of $30.8 billion, a 6 percent increase over last year’s $29 billion approved budget.
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WASHINGTON (AP) Republicans overwhelmed divided Democrats to whisk tax breaks for businesses, families and special interests through the House on Thursday as Congress sped toward final votes on a year-crowning budget accord that will also bankroll the government in 2016.
Only six Democrats and Independent Bernie Sanders, a presidential hopeful, voted against the measure. Democrats followed Pelosi’s lead and backed the bill by a 166-18 margin.
On Thursday the House passed the tax portion of the agreement on a 318-to-109 vote.
Congress plans to vote Friday on an accompanying bill financing government agencies in 2016.
“After long and serious study of the bill’s details, I concluded that while I detest lifting the oil export ban, I will not empower Big Oil to upend so many victories for hard-working American families”, Mrs. Pelosi said in a “dear colleagues” letter urging Democrats to support the omnibus.
Democrats tried but failed to block GOP language restricting federal reimbursements to insurers losing money on federal and state exchanges where people buy coverage, a provision many say has helped destabilize some markets.
Among the permanent tax breaks included in the bill are a Child Tax Credit of $1,000 per qualifying child, a tax credit for business research and development costs for start-up businesses as well as established companies, expanded tax credits for college expenses, and expanded tax credits for certain charitable donations by corporations and individuals.
Neither he nor the opposite leaders who emerged from the talks – together with Wolf, Senate Majority Chief Jake Corman (R., Centre) and Home Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) – would specify which taxes may be raised or imposed to fund the so-called framework settlement. The White House said President Barack Obama would sign both the tax and spending bills. But she asked how many Republicans would vote for it after the party won the oil export “bonanza” in the bill.
“It’s not flawless, and we certainly didn’t get everything that we wanted”, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said of the budget compromise. Ryan announced that the House will pass a short-term bill to prevent the government from shutting down this weekend as talks on a sweeping $1.1 trillion governmentwide spending bill continue slowly. The Senate aimed to approve the tax bill Friday.
“This is a wonderful bridge to comprehensive tax reform”, he said, adding that “every year we have to do these temporary provisions it takes the focus away from everyone concentrating on how we get a better tax system”.
That angered some conservatives who said they couldn’t support a bill that didn’t freeze resettlement of Syrian refugees while the vetting process is overhauled.
The tax measure, which was negotiated in conjunction with the spending bill over months of intensive talks, is known on Capitol Hill as the “extenders” package.
“The tax parts of the new bipartisan deals include provisions that mark a major achievement in reducing poverty and helping poor and modest-income working families, but also disturbing provisions that could cause budget deficits and health care costs to rise substantially over time”, writes Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank in Washington. She got commitments from congressional leaders and the White House to address the issue early next year. Upset with GOP efforts in lifting a ban on US oil exports, Pelosi suggested there might not be enough Democratic votes to push it through the chamber.
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Wolf has demanded a tax increase to help wipe out deep public school funding cuts in 2011 while meeting counties’ requests for an increase in social services aid and narrowing a long-term budget deficit.
