Kansas Congressional delegation members criticize regulation

WICHITA -- Three U.S. representatives and one senator from Kansas promised to work on regulatory and tax reform in front of members of the oil and gas industry Monday, and criticized Democrats and the Senate's filibuster rules for holding back their agenda.

Reps. Lynn Jenkins, Kevin Yoder and Ron Estes appeared Monday alongside Sen. Pat Roberts, all Republicans, at a panel as part of the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association convention. They promised to work on lessening regulatory burdens and cutting taxes.

"Folks just want the boot of the regulator off their neck," Jenkins said.

Jenkins sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has started work on a framework to reduce taxes for individuals and businesses, and reduce the number of income tax brackets.

Along with other members of Congress, Jenkins said she was frustrated by the difficulty of pushing legislation through Congress and the partisanship involved. She said it might be time to do away with a Senate rule that requires a 60-vote "cloture" to break a filibuster, drawing huge applause.

"That's the only thing keeping us from doing the right thing in Washington, D.C., right now," she said, referring to the 60-vote threshold.

She said that would allow Congress to pass legislation and voters could decide whether they approve of the work every two years when they vote.

President Donald Trump has also expressed frustration with the rule and said on Twitter it should be abandoned.

Roberts, however, expressed some hesitancy to do away with the rule. He said he has spoken on its behalf previously when Republicans have been the minority party more likely to use the rule to stop the Democratic agenda. He also criticized the partisanship involved in passing policy. After the panel, he told voters it was possible the rule could have to go away, but he wanted to avoid that.

"I hope we don't have to do it," Roberts said. "If we have to do it, we'll do it, but I think it's bad for the country. I think the Senate becomes little more than the House."

He said it was yet to be determined at what point Republicans would "have to" change the rules.

Roberts said the high bar to break a filibuster and Senate partisanship was making it difficult for senators to work on tax reform, a major piece of the Republican agenda. Republicans hold a narrow Senate majority with 52 Republicans.

Senate Republicans failed last month to pass an alternative to the Affordable Care Act through the reconciliation process that only requires a simple, 51-vote majority.

"Sixty wasn't the problem there. It was 51," Yoder said. "A little to the senators' defense, there may not be 51 for some of these things. I'd just like to see the debate at least."

Yoder said tax reform would be the "centerpiece" of the House's work this fall. Members of the delegation did not say what work they might do on health care after Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act fell short.

Jenkins said she hoped the House was not done discussing repealing and replacing the ACA signed under former President Barack Obama, but she said the discussion had "predominately" pivoted to tax reform.

She and Yoder advocated simplifying the tax code and reducing regulatory burdens on businesses, a plan aimed at "growing the economy."

"Most Americans spend hours and dollars trying to comply with the tax code," Yoder said.

He cited a 2016 IRS estimate that filers would collectively spend 8.9 billion hours working on their taxes in 2016.

Yoder said he hoped to see the country's gross domestic product grow at a rate of four percent. Since 2010, the growth rate has not exceeded 2.6 percent, according to the World Bank.

Jenkins pointed to the U.S. debt totaling nearly $20 trillion and said the economy needed to grow to beat that. She said it was a matter of when the economy fails, "not a matter of if the economy fails" because of the debt.

"The answer is not just cuts. You can't cut your way out of 20 trillion," Jenkins said. "The answer is not just revenue enhancements. You can't tax your way out of 20 trillion. You have to grow your way out and two percent growth is just not cutting it."

Jenkins stressed the difficulty of passing tax reform that won't increase the deficit. The reform plan has been billed as deficit-neutral.

According to CNBC, the White House will release a tax reform framework in the fall.

Credit: By Allison Kite [email protected]