Senate Republicans are saying that the controversial changes being proposed to state and local tax deductions won't cause trouble for them, unlike in the House.
When asked on Monday if there's demand in the Senate to keep the state and local tax deduction, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said, "I don't think it's going to be a problem. I don't know anybody who's advocating strongly for that," according to The Hill.
Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn of Texas said Monday that there's no opposition to eliminating the deductions "on this side," when asked about the members of his conference.
"The proposal on the Senate side is going to be to double the standard deduction, keep the mortgage interest deduction, the charitable deduction and for some complex medical issues," he said. "That's sort of the current discussion."
Much of the controversy over the change stems from the reaction in the country's highest-tax states: California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. Those states have 35 Republican representatives in the House, which could impact a vote should they side with Democrats against the bill.
"My discussions with Chairman Hatch are pretty regular, and he's fully aware that this is an important issue for our House members and that we are taking the lead to find a solution," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said to reporters last week. "I'm confident that will be honored."
He added, in a statement released last weekend, that "at the urging of lawmakers, we are restoring an itemized property tax deduction to help taxpayers with local tax burdens."
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