Tax plan: Rep. Warren Davidsion wants ‘big, bold, permanent reform’

U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, said he doesn’t want any “gimmicks,” such as expirations after 10 or 11 years, when it comes to a Republican tax plan, but rather a “big, bold, permanent” plan. Davidson is pictured here on Wednesday, Aug. 23 during a business round-table discussion on the Congressional tax plan at Mercy Hospital-Fairfield in Fairfield, Ohio. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, said he doesn’t want any “gimmicks,” such as expirations after 10 or 11 years, when it comes to a Republican tax plan, but rather a “big, bold, permanent” plan. Davidson is pictured here on Wednesday, Aug. 23 during a business round-table discussion on the Congressional tax plan at Mercy Hospital-Fairfield in Fairfield, Ohio. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF
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Aug 28, 2017
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U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson wants to avoid “gimmicks” and wants lasting reform with the House and Senate’s push to reform the tax code.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate, and officials in the White House, are working on a plan to reform the tax code which the 8th Congressional District congressman said would include doubling standard deductions, reducing tax brackets, and keeping in place the mortgage and charitable deductions.

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However, Davidson, R-Troy, said he wants “big, bold, permanent reform,”

“What I’m pushing for is structural reform,” he said. “A lot of times in the past Congress has done these gimmicks that in the 10th or 11th year it goes away. That’s not real, structural reform. It’s not even designed to be sustainable. We really need to build something that’s sustainable for the economy.”

Earlier this month, nearly all Senate Democrats sent a letter to President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch asking them to work with Democrats on the tax plan.

"We are confident that, by working together, we could modernize our tax system to increase working families' wages, improve middle-class job growth, promote domestic investment, modernize our outdated business and international tax system and put in place sound fiscal policy," according to the letter signed by 43 Senate Democrats and two Senate Independents.

Davidson, after a business roundtable at Mercy Hospital-Fairfield last week, said Republicans want to work with Democrats but if any negotiations fail they don’t need them. He said there are parts of the plan Democrats have supported and a lot more they don’t support.

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“Because of the uncertainty on how Democrats are going to cooperate, we’re going to do it through another budget reconciliation package and that will give us the ability to do it with 51 votes,” said Davidson. “But, hey, we’d love to have it be unanimous in the House and Senate.”

There is precedent with Congress pushing forward without support from the other side of the political aisle. In 2009 and 2010, after several months of debate, the then-Democratic-controlled House and Senate passed the Affordable Care Act, commonly known now as Obamacare, without Republican support and was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010.

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Michael D. Pitman has been a reporter in southwest Ohio since 1999. He's covered local governments in Warren and Butler counties, as well as state and national issues. He currently covers the cities of Fairfield and Hamilton.