Conservative groups unite around GOP tax framework

A group of more than 30 conservative organizations is sending a letter to House members in support of the tax-reform framework Republicans released last month.

“It’s past time to give tax relief to American middle-class wage earners and allow job creators to compete,” the groups wrote in the letter, which is being sent Tuesday to every House office.

The letter comes as lawmakers are working on creating legislation based on the GOP tax framework. Key Republicans have said they plan to release legislation once the House and Senate adopt a budget resolution, and GOP lawmakers and administration officials have said they want a tax bill enacted by the end of the year.

The tax framework put forward by the White House and congressional GOP leaders would reduce the number of individual tax brackets, slash tax rates for businesses and move the U.S. toward a “territorial” tax system that exempts American companies’ foreign earnings. The document has won widespread praise from conservative groups, not all of which were enthusiastic about congressional Republicans’ bills to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

In the letter, conservative groups said they back the framework because it would allow American companies to better compete with foreign businesses, encourage investment in the U.S. and increase wages.

“Congress has a historic opportunity to give Americans the simpler, fairer tax code they deserve and for too long have been denied,” they wrote.

Groups that signed the letter include the American Action Network, the Tea Party Patriots, ALEC Action and the National Taxpayers’ Union. Some of the groups that signed Tuesday’s letter also signed on to another letter on tax reform in early September.