Rep. Shea-Porter Issues Statement on GOP Tax Plan Conference Report

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-New Hampshire, issued the following news release:

"The Republican tax plan is a massive giveaway to the wealthiest individuals and largest corporations, and will raise taxes on millions of working families. This bill was written and negotiated in secret without any hearings or input from Democrats or the people we represent. Make no mistake, this is a reverse-Robin-Hood tax scam. It lowers the top rate paid by millionaires and doubles the exemption for the estate tax, which will only paid by 5,500 Americans this year, all while failing to provide small businesses and middle class families with the tax fairness they deserve.

"By exploding our debt by $1.4 trillion, this bill sets the stage for dangerous cuts to Medicare and critical programs that support our national security. I will continue to fight to unrig our tax code so that it benefits families and small businesses, not Wall Street and the largest corporations."

BACKGROUND

In November, Shea-Porter voted against the House Republican tax bill, calling it "an attack on our economic security and on the fabric of our nation." After Senate Republicans passed their own bill, she sounded the alarm to her constituents, saying: "We can't stand by and let Congressional Republicans and their lobbyists rig this system even further against working families."

Over the past year, Shea-Porter has repeatedly voiced her commitment to bipartisan, revenue-neutral tax reform, including in response to President Trump's tax blueprint in April and to a letter from Governor Sununu in September.

House Republicans did not hold a single hearing on their nearly 500-page tax bill and spent less than a week marking up the bill in the House Ways and Means Committee. In contrast, over the course of two years, House Democrats held over 79 Affordable Care Act hearings and markups, heard from 181 witnesses, and accepted 30 Republican amendments. House Republicans did not accept a single Democratic amendment during markup of their tax bill.