WASHINGTON – Republicans made several eleventh-hour changes to their massive tax cut and immigration bill as they tried to win over GOP holdouts and pass the bill through the House.
The revisions were unveiled late Wednesday evening, just before the House launched into an all-night session to debate and vote on the bill. President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to get behind the legislation, which enacts some of his campaign promises.
If the bill clears the House, it would move to the Senate for further consideration.
Among the changes that House Republicans made:
— They removed the sections that authorized the sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah. Some Republican lawmakers from Western states had objected to the sales.
— They changed the name of the new investment accounts that parents or guardians could open with a $1,000 contribution from the federal government for babies born between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2028. Instead of being named “MAGA” accounts, they will be named “Trump” accounts.
— They accelerated the implementation of a new work requirement for certain able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries to Dec. 31, 2026. The work requirement had been set to begin on Jan. 1, 2029. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the original date for the work requirements was meant to give states adequate time to get new systems in place, but some Republicans objected, saying the work requirements needed to start more quickly.
— The revised bill quadruples the cap on the state and local tax deduction to $40,000 for households with incomes up to $500,000, with the deduction gradually phasing down for taxpayers above that income threshold. Also, the cap and income threshold will increase 1% annually over 10 years, which is generally below the rate of inflation. Increasing what is known as the SALT cap was a big issue that divided the Republican conference. The current cap is $10,000. GOP leaders agreed to a higher amount to win over support from Republicans in New York, New Jersey and California.
— A new provision in the bill deregulates gun silencers by removing them from the national registry regulated under the National Firearms Act. The registry contains information on machine guns, certain short-barreled rifles and shotguns and silencers. The bill already looked to remove a $200 excise tax on silencers.
— Republicans removed a section of the bill that would change the calculations for federal workers’ retirement pensions. Annuities will continue to be based on the average of the highest three years of income. The GOP had been looking to save money by changing the calculation so that it would be based on a worker’s highest five years of income.
— The bill creates a $12 billion fund for the Homeland Security secretary to provide grants to reimburse states for costs of detention and removal of migrants and other border security efforts.
— The legislation accelerates the Inflation Reduction Act tax credit phaseout for wind, solar and battery storage to 2028.
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