Toomey, Casey have different opinions on House tax plan

When major policy announcements come out of Washington, one thing is for sure: Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators will almost never agree on it.

With Thursday’s Republican tax plan, it was no different.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said he felt good about the House Ways and Means Committee’s tax reform proposal

“Republicans in the House have written a great tax reform bill that will put more money in the pockets of hardworking, middle-income Pennsylvanians and will produce a healthier, stronger economy. I applaud the leadership of Speaker Ryan and Chairman Brady for their work and believe the House should pass this measure.”

He added that work in the Senate Finance Committee is progressing on its own “comprehensive tax plan.”

“The shared goal of Congressional Republicans and the administration on tax reform remains the same: delivering a direct pay raise to hardworking American families and creating incentives for economic growth with new, well-paying jobs,” he said in a statement.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey had a very different take.

“Congressional Republicans have taken great pains to spin their tax scheme as great for the middle class, but a few marginal changes don’t change the fact that their plan is fundamentally a massive giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. By eliminating key deductions like the deduction for state and local sales and income tax and the $4,050 personal exemption per family member, some middle class families in Pennsylvania could see their taxes rise while the super-rich get a windfall,” he said in a statement.

“This proposal finances tax giveaways to the 1 percent while it eliminates the vital tax deductions to help middle class families adopt children and pay their medical bills. This Republican tax bill, which provides a $1.5 trillion tax cut for corporations, comes on the heels of passage just last week of a Republican budget, which proposes cutting Medicare and Medicaid by the same amount, $1.5 trillion,” Casey said. “We need to reform the tax code for the middle class and small businesses, but the congressional Republican outline does the opposite, providing massive giveaways to the super rich and large corporations. Congressional Republicans should scrap this obscene plan and start over with a bipartisan process that raises incomes for the middle class and creates jobs.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Toomey, Casey have different opinions on House tax plan."