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Bonamici Stands for Working Families, Against Tax Breaks for Billionaires

November 16, 2017

Congresswoman Votes Against Harmful, Partisan GOP Tax Plan

WASHINGTON, DC [11/16/17] – Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) stood up for working families in Oregon and across the country by voting against the partisan House Republican tax plan.

"We need a tax code that leads to better jobs, better wages, and a better future for America. The bill we voted on fails that test. This disastrous, partisan tax plan cuts rates for wealthy corporations and billionaires while leading to tax increases for about 38 million working families," said Bonamici.

Bonamici spoke on the House floor twice in the past week to urge her colleagues to reject the plan. She highlighted how this tax plan makes it harder for Americans to pay off their student loan debt and undermines our public education system.

Bonamici continued, "Education is one of the best investments we can make. Unfortunately, this tax proposal shortchanges America's schools, students, and teachers. In this bill House Republicans have eliminated incentives for teachers and local communities to invest in public education. The bill eliminates deductions for teachers who buy supplies to help their students, for student loan borrowers paying off their loans, and for working families paying state and local taxes. It also gets rid of deductions for medical expenses, which will especially harm the sick and elderly. And to make things worse, this bill will add about $1.5 trillion to the deficit, leaving our children and grandchildren with the bill."

The House tax plan passed the House with no Democratic support. It now heads to the Senate.

"Senate Republicans are poised to make this terrible plan even worse by adding a provision to unravel the Affordable Care Act, which will likely increase rates and could strip health care away from millions of Americans," said Bonamici. "Earlier this year the American people overwhelmingly told Congress they don't want to repeal the ACA; they want Congress to work together to improve access to health insurance coverage and reduce costs."

You can download footage of Bonamici's floor speeches here and here, and video of her reaction after the vote here.

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