Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist on Monday said he expects that Republicans will unveil tax reform legislation by late September.
“I think we’ll have a bill out of the White House, the Senate and the House by Sept. 28,” Norquist said on CNBC. “The White House and the House and Senate leadership have made it clear they’re working together to write this bill.”
Congressional Republican leaders and Trump administration officials last week released a joint statement containing principles for tax reform. The document is intended to guide the congressional tax-writing committees as they draft legislation.
Tax reform is one of Republicans’ top priorities, and it has taken on added urgency now that the effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare has stalled in the Senate.
{mosads}Lawmakers and the administration want tax legislation to pass this year. But Congress will also have to deal with other issues in the fall, including funding the federal government and raising the debt ceiling.
Additionally, there could be more efforts to try to pass healthcare legislation, eating up more time on the legislative calendar.
Norquist, who has the ear of GOP lawmakers, said the tax reform process differs from healthcare because the White House and House and Senate Republicans are all involved in drafting the bill.
“This time, all three are working together,” he said. “They’re not going to come up with one bill and ping pong it back and forth. It’s going to be sort-of pre-negotiated. And the pieces of it are a lot easier.”
Norquist said that tax legislation will include lower tax rates for both corporations and businesses whose income is currently taxed through the individual code.
“That gives you the political heft for tax reform,” he said.