The election of 2016 saw the GOP take control of the presidency and retain control of both chambers of Congress. This created an opportunity for Republicans to enact comprehensive tax reform. This libguide will track the legislative history of that effort as it happens and contain links to legislative history source documents.
Tax reform began with the House Budget Committee holding a mark up on reconciliation instructions on July 19, 2017 and submission of a reconciliation resolution, H. Con. Res. 71 on July 21. The resolution included instructions to the House Ways and Means Committee, the lead committee on taxation matters, to come up with $52 billion in savings between FY 2018 and FY 2027. The House passed H. Con. Res. 71 on October 5, 2017 by a vote of 219 - 206. The Senate's version was introduced as Senate Amendment 1116 to H. Con. Res. 71 on October 19, 2017. This passed on October 20, 2017. The House passed the Senate's version on October 26, 2017 by a vote of 216 - 212, setting the stage for submission of tax legislation.
The House bill, H.R. 1, was unveiled on November 2, 2017 and was called the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act." The next day, Kevin Brady, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, unveiled an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1. Committee mark up was held between November 6 - 9, 2017. On November 13, 2017, the House Ways & Means Committee reported the marked up H.R. 1 with House Report 115-409 (2017). The House approved the bill on November 16, 2017 by a vote of 227 - 205.
On November 9, 2017, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chairman of the Senate Finance committee unveiled his proposal, which took the form of Description of the Chairman’s Modification to the Chairman’s Mark of the “Tax Cuts And Jobs Act”, which was prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation. The Finance Committee approved the bill by a vote of 14-12 on November 16, 2017. The Senate Budget Committee reported the legislation on November 28, 2017 by a vote of 12-11. The full Senate took up H.R. 1 on November 29, 2017, approving a motion to proceed by 52-48. The Senate approved an amended version of H.R. 1 on December 2, 2017 by a vote of 51-49.
The House and Senate appointed representatives to a Conference Committee which unveiled a new version of the legislation on December 15, 2017. The House passed the bill on December 19, 2017 by a vote of 227 - 203. The Senate passed the bill on December 20, 2017 with technical corrections by a vote 51 - 48. The House approved the amended version the same day by a vote of 224 - 201.
