GOP lawmakers on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee locked themselves away much of Tuesday during a marathon session ahead of Wednesday’s planned unveiling of their tax reform plan.
“It is a marathon but it should be a marathon,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) said in an interview with The Hill.
“You can’t do something this big, this complicated without it being a marathon so, this is like a final exam — we’re cramming right now.”
Kelly said lawmakers are trying to decide how to hand the state and local tax exemption, which has been on the chopping block as Republicans seek ways to keep the cost of their package down.
Republicans from states with high property taxes, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois and California, could see their tax bills rise depending on how the plan handles the decuction.
Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), a former National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chairman, warned his fellow colleagues against “drawing lines in the sand” before a bill has been unveiled.
Watch the video above to hear the lawmakers in their own words.