GOP to Launch Campaign to Promote Tax Reform Over August Recess

Republican congressmen plan to campaign in full force for tax reform over the August recess in an effort to excite voters about the legislation, The Hill reported on Sunday.

The GOP looks to sell the plan with the aid of business groups and conservative organizations. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady has given his fellow Republican congressmen talking points to emphasize to the public the advantages of the plan, including an August calendar with 31 reasons for tax reform, and a pocket card that explains how it will be beneficial to the public.

The organized GOP push follows the Senate’s failure to pass even a “skinny repeal” of Obamacare and comes after the Republican release of shared principles on tax reform.

House Speaker Paul Ryan announced the common ground reached by the GOP on tax reform in the past few days, telling Fox Business that, “getting consensus between the White House, the Senate, and the House on a way forward on tax reform makes it that much more of a viable enterprise. I feel much more confident that we are going to stick the landing on tax reform, because we have now said we have consensus.”

The failure on repealing Obamacare makes it even more imperative for Republicans to claim a legislative success on tax reform. Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips told The Washington Post that the Obamacare vote “is an epic failure by congressional Republicans, but it’s time to pivot to tax reform. There’s no time to pout.”

The Republican agreement to release tax reform guidelines at this stage, when it was previously expected to take at least until September to do so, is an important sign of a determination to pivot to tax reform and to arm lawmakers with information to discuss with constituents, Rohit Kumar, the leader of PwC’s Washington National Tax Services Tax Policy Services group, told The Hill.

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist emphasized that “there was no organized campaign to overturn Obamacare,” and that constituents who would have benefitted from its repeal were not pressing their congressmen, but “the people who see the direct impact will speak on behalf of tax reform.” 

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