Collins: I Want the Senate Tax Bill to Keep the 39.6% Tax Bracket on Million Dollar Earners

‘I hope [the ObamaCare mandate] will be dropped’

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STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s move on to the tax bill. Passed the Senate Finance Committee this week. And a separate tax bill passed the House as well. You’re already facing ads back in your home state by a group called “Not One Penny.” Let’s take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It’s hard enough for Mainers to find our way in this economy. But the Trump Republican tax plan would leave us lost in the wilderness just to pay for huge tax cuts for the wealthiest. Thankfully, Senator Susan Collins told us that she would say no to tax breaks for the wealthiest.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: Can you vote for the bill that passed the Senate Finance Committee?

COLLINS: I want to see changes in that bill. And I think there will be changes. There are some provisions of the House bill that I like better. For example, the House retains the top rate of 39.6 percent for people who make $1 million or more a year. That’s a change that I would like to see be made in the Senate bill so that we can skew more of the relief to middle income taxpayers.

So some very good provisions in the Senate bill such as the doubling of the child tax credit and making it refundable for people of low income. So also a doubling of the standard deduction, which means that a family making $24,000 would not pay any income tax.

So, there are provisions of both bills that I like. But I think the bill needs work.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you can’t vote...

COLLINS: And I think the biggest...

STEPHANOPOULOS: You can’t vote for it as written?

COLLINS: I haven’t reached that conclusion yet, because I think there are going to be further changes. But the biggest mistake was putting in a provision from the Affordable Care Act into the Senate bill that is not in the House bill. And I hope that will be dropped or, that bills have been introduced by senators Alexander and Murray and Bill Nelson and myself will be adopted to mitigate the impact of those provisions.

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