“Senator John Thune’s (R-SD) amendment, to reduce the 15% minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income for certain corporations with profits exceeding $1 billion passed with support of senators from both parties,” say Tire Industry Association (TIA) officials.
“However, Senator Thune’s success was followed by an amendment of Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), which restored the revenue lost by the Thune amendment. The vote on Warner’s amendment was 51-50, (with) the Vice President breaking the tie.
“The foregoing corporate minimum tax is the largest tax in the bill, originally estimated to raise $300 billion over ten years," note TIA officials.
“H.R. 5376 will now be finalized and sent to the House for final passage. The President said he will sign the bill.
“Speaker Pelosi says she’ll soon call the House in session to pass the bill, which will be a perilous undertaking because Democrats can’t afford to lose more than four votes if Republicans solidly oppose.
“Cohesion among House Democrats is questionable at present. For a month they’ve been watching the Senate and many are unhappy, especially about voting to raise taxes, which is seen as a kiss of death.
“Should the House pass H.R. 5376 in a different version from the Senate’s, the bill will likely be returned to the Senate, where we can renew working with the Finance Committee to elevate employment programs which have gotten lost in the current bill. Neither the Department of Labor nor the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare were included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
“We have plenty of work to do wrapping up the Senate bill and turning to September- October - the last real business months before elections - when members of Congress will be campaigning.”
