Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is going to vote “yes” on tax reform.
Rubio, a Republican, was threatening to vote against his party’s tax reform bill if leadership did not increase the amount of the refundable child tax credit to $1,400. The refundable amount was only $1,100 in the initial Senate bill, an amount Rubio did not think was enough to help low-income families and single mothers.
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The Florida senator called for the changes on Twitter early Friday morning.
The #workingclass is always forgotten in D.C. We need to add more #taxcuts for #workingclass parents especially those earning 20k- 50K 1/1
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 15, 2017
Tax deal doubles #ChildTaxCredit from $1k to $2000.But for millions of #workingclass families only 55% of the $2K is available to them 2/2
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 15, 2017
Can only support bill if % of the 2K #ChildTaxCredit available to #workingclass parents is increased to % meaningfully higher than 55% 3/3
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 15, 2017
The changes were enough to get Rubio on board, however, it still falls a bit short of what he was asking for in the final bill. Rubio, along with GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, wants the refundable credits to kick in from the first dollar earned. The bill, as it currently reads, reportedly starts applying the refundable credits against household earnings after $2,500, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The bill also only applies the child tax credit for children under the age of 17.
Rubio made a few statements on Twitter Friday afternoon regarding the changes:
For far too long, Washington has ignored and left behind the American working class. Increasing the refundability of the Child Tax Credit from 55% to 70% is a solid step toward broader reforms which are both Pro-Growth and Pro-Worker.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 15, 2017
But there is still much more to do in the months and years to come. The progress made on the Child Tax Credit would not have been possible without the support of @SenMikeLee, @SenatorTimScott, and @IvankaTrump.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 15, 2017
Republicans can only afford to lose two senators in their caucus. Three Republican defections would kill the bill.
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