By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are “marking up” key components of President Donald Trump’s legislative priorities within his mega-bill.
A committee markup is a key, formal step that ultimately allows legislation to advance through committee and to the floor for a full vote. Today, three high-profile markups took place on Capitol Hill.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held its markup as Republicans seek to find more than $800 billion in savings over the next ten years. The committee oversees Medicaid policy and funding. Democrats warn the plan will lead to big cuts to Medicaid and leave many Americans without health care options.
The House Agriculture Committee oversees the nation’s largest anti-hunger program: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The committee is also tasked with finding savings—over $200 billion.
“Trump calls this a big, beautiful bill. We call it the big GRIFT: Greedy Republicans in Favor of Tycoon’s,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The third high-profile markup was in the House Ways and Means Committee. This committee is focused on extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
Republicans and policy experts warn that tax hikes are looming across the country if the mega-bill fails. According to the House Ways and Means Committee, if the 2017 tax cuts expire, the average taxpayer in Pennsylvania would see a 24% increase, while New York taxpayers would face a 22% hike.
The committee has introduced a draft bill to prevent the expiration of the tax cuts and is scaling through the proposals this week.
“It includes a larger standard deduction and a slightly larger child tax credit for a couple of years. But it also means a lot more complexity in the tax code,” said Adam Michel, director of tax policy studies at the CATO Institute. “The bill includes many of President Trump’s campaign promises, like no tax on tips and no tax on overtime and a larger tax cut for seniors and a host of other new and expanded tax credits that move in the opposite direction of what Republicans did in 2017. They’re a tremendous addition to the complexity of tax paying that all Americans will ultimately have to deal with when tax time comes around,” he said.
Although the committee’s draft aims to prevent rising tax rates and provide stability for taxpayers, Michel said it falls short of delivering robust, pro-growth tax reform.
“It has certainty for individuals. And we need to extend that same certainty to businesses and investment that all the things that employ all Americans around the country, that’s the real big missing part from this bill,” said Michel. “It isn’t nearly as pro-growth as it should be.”
One unresolved issue is the size of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. The committee’s first draft proposes a $30,000 SALT deduction cap, but experts believe that figure will likely change.
“That will very likely continue to evolve as the legislation makes its way through Congress,” Michel said.
There is still a long road ahead before any final version of the mega-bill becomes law. Each component must pass through its respective committee, move through the full House, and then head to the Senate, where more changes could take place.
