Sen. Grassley warns passing tax bill would make President Biden 'look good' before election
Sen. Chuck Grassley doesn't want to pass a $79 billion tax bill that is headed for the U.S. Senate.
Grassley, R-Iowa, expressed concerns Wednesday that passing the bill would make President Joe Biden "look good mailing out checks before the election," according to a tweet from Semaforreporter Joseph Zeballos-Roig.
👀 GOP Sen. Grassley tells me he’s concerned passing Wyden-Smith tax bill might aid Biden’s re-election:
“I think passing a tax bill that makes the president look good mailing out checks before the election, means he could be reelected and then we won’t extend the 2017 tax cuts”— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) January 31, 2024
The tax bill, which would expand the child tax credit for American families and reinstate other tax cuts for businesses, was passed by U.S. House on later on Wednesday, after Grassley's comments.
Grassley also said he worried the bill would make it harder to extend tax cuts from 2017 that expire next year, according to HuffPost reporter Arthur Delaney.
The bill, negotiated between Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, cleared the House by a bipartisan vote of 357-70.
More: House passes sweeping, bipartisan bill with expanded child tax credit and business tax breaks
All four of Iowa's representatives voted in favor of the bill.
It faces a steep climb in the Senate, where Republicans are demanding the bill clear additional hurdles.
“There are issues that need to be fixed,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the leading Republican on the Senate Finance Committee that handles tax legislation. Grassley also sits on the Finance Committee.
How would the deal impact me?
Though the tax legislation passed Wednesday would not rise to the level of the boosted pandemic-era child tax credit, the bill would raise the refundable portion to $1,800 per child in 2023, $1,900 per child in 2024 and $2,000 per child in 2025. It would also adjust the value for inflation in 2024 and 2025.
But the legislation extends beyond parents. It would also create tax benefits for people impacted by natural disasters, and it would strengthen the low-income housing tax credit. The bill is also set up to extend tax breaks for businesses through 2025 and implement benefits to support trade with Taiwan.
The tax breaks in the agreement would be paid for by eliminating the employee retention tax credit. That was a pandemic-era provision to help businesses keep employees on payroll, but has since been found to be rife with fraud.
USA TODAY reporters Riley Beggin and Ken Tran contributed to this report
Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at vreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Chuck Grassley dislikes that tax bill would make Biden 'look good'
