Senator Young Encourages Republicans To Back USD$78B Tax Bill

Senate Republicans continue to diverge on how to approach the House-passed USD$78 billion bipartisan tax deal which is currently stalled in the Senate Finance Committee due to ranking Republican Senator Mike Crapo’s (R-ID) concerns that enhanced child tax credits could permanently soften the link before credits and work. Crapo wants an amendment process which House counterparts believe could sink the bill.

• The dispute may be coming to a head after Senator Todd Young (R-IN) told reporters that he would back the bill and encouraged other Republican Senators to do likewise.
• Semafor reports that Young said he, "aims to discuss the bill with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, with whom he worked closely while co-authoring 2021’s CHIPS and Science Act. “I’ll do whatever I can to be supportive of the process,” he said. Young also told Semafor he believed there was a “good shot” of enough Republican senators supporting the bill after discussing it at Wednesday’s lunch with GOP senators.
• Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), taking the opposing side, told reporters: “I hope my colleagues will do what I’ll do, and that’s to support Crapo to say we should not allow them to get on the bill [without Crapo’s amendments]. I don’t have any intention of undermining any discussions he’s trying to have.”
• Punchbowl News notes: “If Young can coax more GOP senators to go public with their support for the bill, it’s the sort that would make [Schumer] more likely to hold a floor vote.”