Senate

Senators vote down Rubio-Lee child tax credit expansion

by Naomi Jagoda - 12/01/17 11:21 PM ET

Senators on Friday night voted down a closely watched amendment to the GOP tax-reform bill from Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) that would expand the child tax credit.

The amendment, which received criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, would make the child tax credit refundable to payroll taxes and would pay for it by raising the bill’s corporate tax rate from 20 percent to 20.94 percent.

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The amendment went down on a procedural vote of 29-71 on Friday night, with several lawmakers from both sides of the aisle siding with Rubio and Lee.

Rubio and Lee have been pushing for a more robust child tax credit for years, and their efforts have been supported by first daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump.

A number of conservative groups, as well as the National Association for Manufacturers, opposed the amendment because it would increase the corporate rate compared to the current version of the bill.

Rubio pushed back on the criticisms of his amendment, saying it was “ridiculous” to argue that a slightly higher corporate rate would be problematic.

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) argued that Rubio and Lee “stop far short of meaningful relief” for many Americans with their amendment, and criticized the temporary nature of their proposed expansion of the credit.

Tags Marco Rubio Mike Lee Ron Wyden