Blue Dog Coalition Asks Treasury for Tax Reform Analysis

December 6, 2017

The Honorable Steven Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Secretary Mnuchin:

We request the Treasury Department to provide an analysis of the economic effects of the House and Senate tax bills to Congress and the American public.

As Blue Dogs, we believe in working across party lines to achieve lasting progress for our country. We also believe fiscal responsibility is critical to sustained economic growth and opportunity for hardworking Americans. While we did not support the House-passed tax bill, we believe it is still possible to pass tax reform that can provide relief for hardworking Americans and therefore receive bipartisan support. For this to occur, we need to fully understand the consequences of the proposed tax code and other policy changes for the economic well-being of our constituents.

The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) recently released a report stating that, with consideration of macroeconomic effects, the Senate tax bill increases the deficit by $1.0067 trillion — and that amount does not include the additional interest payments on the debt. The JCT report also stated that the bill produces 0.8 percent growth. This analysis matches most analyses provided by external, independent economists, but some other analyses have determined the bill could cost even more, upwards of $2 trillion, and result in slower rates of economic growth.

As the debt continues to grow, we are very concerned that deficit-financed tax cuts with budget gimmicks will increase complexity and compliance burdens for American small and mid-sized businesses.

When President Ronald Reagan and a Democratic Congress worked together to pass tax reform in the 1980s, the reforms underwent repeated, significant analysis and revision. Congress and the White House relied on thoughtful, nonpartisan analysis to produce reform. Despite Washington's general dysfunction, we should follow this successful, bipartisan path for the good of hardworking Americans.

The American people deserve to have all of the information available so they can have a full understanding of how both tax bills will affect their lives, and Congress needs that information to create sound policy. We thank you for your consideration and look forward to working with you for the good of all Americans.

Sincerely,

Rep. Jim Costa (CA-16)
Co-Chair for Administration

Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Co-Chair for Communications

Rep. Daniel Lipinski (IL-03)
Co-Chair for Policy

This letter has the full support of the following members of the Blue Dog Coalition:

Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Member

Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05)
Member

Rep. Lou Correa (CA-46)
Member

Rep. Charlie Crist (FL-13)
Member

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15)
Member

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL-07)
Member

Rep. Tom O'Halleran (AZ-01)
Member

Rep. Collin C. Peterson (MN-07)
Member

Rep. Bradley S. Schneider (IL-10)
Member

Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Member

Rep. David Scott (GA-13)
Member

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Member

Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05)
Member