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President Donald Trump will drop in on the Senate Republican’s weekly policy luncheon on Tuesday to make the case for action on legislation to overhaul the federal tax code which Trump claims is needed to expand the nation’s economy.


The tax plan under consideration would permanently slash corporate taxes while providing temporary relief to some individual taxpayers. Democrats have lined up in opposition to the plan that they claim would end up raising taxes on many individuals while increasing the federal deficit.

Connecticut’s all-Democrat delegation has kept up a steady drumbeat of opposition to the tax cutting plan. Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Elizabeth Esty had scheduled press conferences in Hartford and in Waterbury Monday afternoon on the topic.

In Waterbury, Esty and Jahana Hayes, 2016’s National Teacher of the Year, planned to speak on the impact the tax cuts would have on educators and middle-class families in Connecticut.



In Hartford, Blumenthal planned to point to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center’s analysis that found the Senate Republican proposal would raise taxes on half of all Americans by 2027 and repeal key components of the Affordable Care Act that are projected to result in 13 million fewer Americans being covered by health insurance.

Democrats will likely use the tax debate as a defining issue for the 2018 mid-term elections – hammering home that the Republican plan rewards corporations and the wealthy while hurting average Americans. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report on Sunday that supports that contention.

By 2019, Americans earning less than $30,000 a year would be worse off under the Senate bill, CBO found. By 2021, Americans earning $40,000 or less would be net losers, and by 2027, most people earning less than $75,000 a year would be worse off. On the flip side, millionaires and those earning $100,000 to $500,000 would be big beneficiaries, according to the CBO’s calculations, according to The Washington Post.

The tax issue is having a ripple effect politically. Read our earlier report here.

Larson to Speak on Carbon Tax

Representative John Larson, who serves on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, will speak Tuesday at the Brookings Institute on the chances for Congress to adopt a carbon tax as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Brookings is holding a program Tuesday on the issue, which Larson kicks off at 2 p.m.

“A well-designed, economy-wide carbon tax could also help the United States achieve its emissions targets under the Paris Climate Agreement, lower conventional air pollutants, replace less efficient and effective Clean Air Act regulations, and eliminate the need for disparate state-level measures. It could also help pay for infrastructure investments, an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and other priorities,” Brookings says.

Larson will deliver his speech and answer questions from the audience at the Brookings Center. A panel discussion will follow featuring Adam Looney, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center: Jerry Taylor, president of the Niskanen Center; and Amy Harder, an energy and climate reporter at Axios.

UPCOMING


• The House plans this week to vote on H.R. 3017, the Brownfields Enhancement, Economic Redevelopment, and Reauthorization Act of 2017, that would allow up to $250 million to clean up brownfield sites each year. It would also modify the law to increase caps on remediation grants and make other changes.

• The House also plans this week to vote on H.R. 1699, Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2017, that would modify the definition of “high-cost” loans under the Dodd-Frank Act so that manufactured home loans are not included in the designation simply due to their small size.

• The Senate may vote on a major overhaul of federal tax policy this week, providing a reduction in the corporate tax rate as well as changes to the Affordable Care Act.

• The Senate is expected this week to confirm Dabney Langhorne Freidrich to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia and Greg Katsas to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia.

December To Be Busy Month for Congress


As Congress returns from a week-long Thanksgiving break, they face a full plate of must-do issues before they return home for the holidays.

Republicans hope to get a tax bill approved so that President Trump can sign it into law by the end of the year. The House already approved its version leaving it up to the Senate. The Senate wants to get their version done this week so that the two chambers can negotiate a final package.

Getting a bill through the Senate will be no simple task. Senate Republicans have a slender majority — meaning almost all will have to support the plan and there are a handful remaining to be convinced, including: Senators John McCain, Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, and Ron Johnson.

Beyond the tax issue, Congress likely will consider an additional budget measure needed to keep the government operating beyond the end of the year, another increase in the debt ceiling, reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and addressing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama-era immigration program that has allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children to remain under certain conditions.

The Washington Post and Politico have more on the end-of-the-year agenda.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

SHOUT OUT

Condolences to CNN’s Chris Cillizza, whose uncle James Cillizza, a New Britain native, recently passed away.

SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY will hold a panel discussion titled, “Connecticut at the Crossroads: A Conversation About the State’s Present and Future” and will feature state Sens. Boucher, Devlin, Duff, Hwang, and state Reps. Kupchick, McCarthy Vahey, and Stafstrom and will be moderated by SHU’s Lesley DeNardis. The forum will be on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 5 p.m. at the Frank and Marisa Business & Communications Center, Sacred Heart University, 5401 Park Avenue, Fairfield. The event is free and open to the public. More information

CT NORML, SSDP-YALE will host a candidate debate for gubernatorial candidates and those exploring a statewide office run in 2018 and will be moderated by Aaron J. Romano on Tuesday, Nov. 28 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Yale University’s Sheffield Sterling Strathcona, Room 114, 1 Prospect Street, New Haven. More information

COMMON CAUSE will hold its Annual Democracy Champions Dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 28 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Pond House Cafe More information

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR Debate sponsored by state Sen. Art Linares and moderated by Fox61’s Jenn Bernstein and the Courant’s Chris Keating on Wednesday, Dec.6, at 6 p.m. at the Windsor High School, 50 Sage Park Road, Windsor. More information