The U.S. Senate has passed a sweeping tax reform bill with Senator Bob Corker of Chattanooga casting the only Republican No vote.
He had expressed concern about the effect of the legislation on the national deficit.
Senator Lamar Alexander said the bill "will help create more good-paying jobs for Tennessee families and keep more money in Tennesseans’ pockets."
He said, “Today, the Senate took a critical step toward reducing taxes. This is good for Tennesseans’ family incomes in two ways.
“First, middle-income tax cuts will leave more money in the pockets of Tennesseans — the standard deduction and child care tax credit are doubled. On average, wealthy Americans will pay a slightly higher share of federal income taxes, and middle income Americans will pay a smaller share.
"Second, taking the handcuffs off job creators will grow the economy. Our corporate taxes rates have been among the highest in the world, driving 4,700 American companies overseas during the past ten years to take advantage of lower tax rates. This bill lowers corporate rates from 35 percent to 20 percent-- about the worldwide average-- and allows immediate expensing of capital investment, which will create jobs and raise wages. The law will help increase the anemic annual 1.9 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that our country has been experiencing and will produce more federal revenues to reduce the national debt.
“Now the Senate and House can work together on our different bills to send to the President legislation that can become law before the end of the year.”
Senator David Perdue (R-GA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said, “For years, American workers and companies have struggled to compete with the rest of the world. Not anymore. Today, we delivered on an historic opportunity to cut taxes and fix the archaic tax code.
"This is a major win for the American people. Lower tax rates for individuals and businesses will raise wages, grow the economy, and make our country competitive again. We will see a boost in consumer and CEO confidence, which have already reached their highest levels in decades.
"As a business guy, I know these tax changes will stimulate the economy and create the growth we need to solve this debt crisis. President Trump and Vice President Pence worked in lock step with the Senate to get this done. They gave us a clear objective: pass a plan that will change American lives by putting people back to work, putting more money back in their pockets, and making American businesses competitive once again. Today, I’m very proud to say, we got this done.”
The House and Senate will now work together to come to an agreement on the two different versions of the bill. The House and Senate can then send a final bill to the president’s desk so it can be signed into law.