The Senate will vote later tonight on the tax bill. Here’s an explanation as to why the tax bill must return to the House.
The House doesn’t have to live under special budget rules like the Senate does. The Senate is considering tax bill under special process called “budget reconciliation.” Had the Senate entertained the tax bill under typical rules, the measure would have been subject to filibusters. That takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster – something Republicans don’t have. But the GOP can avoid filibusters by handling the tax bill under unique budget reconciliation rules. That is the only route Republicans have to pass the tax measure.
Budget reconciliation limits debate and amendments. But, provisions in bills considered under this process must directly deal with fiscal issues, not “policy.” When the House sent the tax bill to the Senate, Democrats spied provisions in House-approved tax bill which they believed ran afoul of the special budget rules. Democrats made points of order against those provisions (kind of like a protest). And Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough agreed.
Here’s what the Democrats flagged: 529 savings accounts for home schooling expenses, the title of the bill (“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”) and criteria to determine whether endowments of private universities are subject to the legislation’s new excise tax.
Republicans could vote to waive the special budget rules and maintain the provisions in the bill..provided they can get 60 votes. But that won’t happen when they only have 52 GOP members..and 51 voting tonight due to the absence of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
A failure to secure 60 votes to overcome the budget requirements means the provisions in question are removed from the legislation.
Once provisions which don’t match budget rules are removed from tax bill, the Senate will pass the tax bill. But there’s a problem. The House passed one version of the bill. The Senate ok’d slightly different bill. So, the Senate must bounce bill back to the House to “concur” with the Senate changes. Only then will the House and Senate be aligned and they can send a combined, unified bill to President Trump to sign.
Why all of this parliamentary hopscotch?
It’s because of the “Byrd Rule,” named after late Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D-WV). Under budget reconciliation, the Byrd rule mandates legislation only deal with only fiscal issues, The evaluation of of provisions which may be in question of budget rules is called the “Byrd bath.” And portions of the bill which are removed are called…ahem…“Byrd droppings.”
True.
Leave it to the Senate for cornpone, parliamentary humor.
