Murphy: Tax Reform Vote Should Wait For Doug Jones

Hartford Courant (CT)

Dec. 13--Sen. Chris Murphy said his Republican colleagues should delay a final vote on tax reform until Alabama Democrat Doug Jones joins the chamber.

Jones upset Republican Roy Moore in a special election Tuesday night and will shrink the GOP majority in the Senate to 51-49 once he is seated.

"It would certainly make sense for [Republicans] to give Doug Jones a chance to vote on a bill that's going to impact millions of his constituents," Murphy said.

Republicans are unlikely to heed Murphy's request. The tax reform debate has been sharply partisan, with all Democrats in the Senate voting against the measure the first time it passed the chamber. Final votes in the House and Senate are expected next week.

Murphy and other Democrats say Republicans are breaking recent precedent. In 2010, Democrats held off final passage of the Affordable Care Act until Republican Scott Brown, elected in a special election to succeed Sen. Ted Kennedy, was seated.

But President Barack Obama's sweeping health care law was ultimately passed through the reconciliation process -- the same way Republicans are tackling tax reform -- and required only a simple majority. So while Brown campaigned on being the 40th vote against Obamacare, enough to create a filibuster and block its passage, that never happened.