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$1.4T Tax Overhaul Bill Passes Senate

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A victory for Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump Saturday. The party passed its version of the tax plan early this morning without a single vote from a democrat.

The final version of this plan will impact Americans' taxes through at least 2025. But, there are still a few hurdles left to clear here.

The Senate passed its bill overnight and The House passed a plan in mid-November. Now the challenge will be making compromise between the two largely GOP-led versions for a plan in the next few days. That version is what the president will have to approve to make law.

The nearly $1.5 trillion bill is viewed as a major victory for Trump, and it's the largest tax overhaul in more than three decades.

"This is a great day for the country. It's been 31 years since we've done comprehensive tax reform," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

Senate republicans celebrated as democrats cried foul over getting a revised version of the 500-page bill just hours before being asked to vote on it.

The Senate and House bills have had some key differences in areas like state and local tax deductions, income tax brackets, cutting corporate tax rates and areas like adoption, health and education.

Just this week, grad students staged a walkout on the University of Minnesota campus over a provision in the House version of the bill that would treat tuition waivers as taxable income.

"Food, transportation, it's just like all aspects of life would be affected by this legislation and that's an unfortunate outcome," U of M student Nico Ramos Flores said.

While economists have different views on whether the tax plans would help the middle class more than big businesses, a report from the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation projected the bill would add $1 trillion to deficits over the course of a decade, even after accounting for economic growth.

Congress has the goal of giving Trump a tax bill by Christmas.

After the vote Trump tweeted: "We are one step closer to delivering massive tax cuts for working families across America. Look forward to signing a final bill before Christmas!"

 

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