House Report 115-410 - PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 1) TO PROVIDE FOR RECONCILIATION PURSUANT TO TITLE II OF THE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018, AND PROVIDING FOR PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PERIOD FROM NOVEMBER 17, 2017, THROUGH NOVEMBER 27, 2017

[House Report 115-410]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-410

======================================================================

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 1) TO PROVIDE FOR
RECONCILIATION PURSUANT TO TITLE II OF THE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE
BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018, AND PROVIDING FOR PROCEEDINGS DURING THE
PERIOD FROM NOVEMBER 17, 2017, THROUGH NOVEMBER 27, 2017

_______

November 15 (legislative day of November 14), 2017.--Referred to the
House Calendar and ordered to be printed

_______

Mr. Sessions, from the Committee on Rules,
submitted the following

R E P O R T

[To accompany H. Res. 619]

The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration
House Resolution 619, by a record vote of 8 to 3, report the
same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution
be adopted.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 1, the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, under a closed rule. The resolution
provides four hours of debate equally divided and controlled by
the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways
and Means.
The resolution waives all points of order against
consideration of the bill. The resolution provides that the
amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text
of Rules Committee Print 115-39 shall be considered as adopted
and the bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. The
resolution waives all points of order against provisions in the
bill, as amended. The resolution provides one motion to
recommit with or without instructions. The resolution provides
that clause 5(b) of rule XXI shall not apply to the bill or
amendments thereto.
Section 2 of the resolution provides that upon passage of
H.R. 1, the amendment to the title of such bill recommended by
the Committee on Ways and Means now printed in the bill shall
be considered as adopted.
Section 3 of the resolution provides that on any
legislative day during the period from November 17, 2017,
through November 27, 2017: the Journal of the proceedings of
the previous day shall be considered as approved; and the Chair
may at any time declare the House adjourned to meet at a date
and time to be announced by the Chair in declaring the
adjournment.
Section 4 of the resolution provides that the Speaker may
appoint Members to perform the duties of the Chair for the
duration of the period addressed by section 3 of the resolution
as though under clause 8(a) of rule I.

EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

The waiver of all points of order against consideration of
the bill includes a waiver of the following:
Clause 3(e)(1) of rule XIII (Ramseyer),
which requires a committee report accompanying a bill
amending or repealing statutes to show, by
typographical device, parts of statute affected;
Clause 10 of rule XXI, which prohibits the
consideration of a bill if it has the net effect of
increasing mandatory spending over the five or ten year
period. It is important to note that while the bill
increases direct spending over five years, it reduces
direct spending over ten years;
Section 303(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act, which prohibits consideration of legislation, as
reported, providing new budget authority for a fiscal
year until the budget resolution for that year has been
agreed to; and
Section 311(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, which prohibits consideration of
legislation that would cause revenues to be less than
the level of total revenues for the first fiscal year
or for the total of that first fiscal year and the
ensuing fiscal years for which allocations are
provided.
Although the resolution waives all points of order against
provisions in the bill, as amended, the Committee is not aware
of any points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
Although the resolution provides that clause 5b of rule XXI
does not apply to this bill, the rule isolates only specified
provisions and does not look at the essential interactions of
all the tax provisions. While the bill as a whole provides
broad tax relief, the provision is necessary because of the
narrow focus of the rule.

COMMITTEE VOTES

The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion
to report, together with the names of those voting for and
against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 142

Motion by Ms. Slaughter to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #22, offered by Rep. Doggett
(TX) and Rep. Davis (IL) and Rep. Thompson (CA) and Rep.
DelBene (WA) and Rep. Crowley (NY), which would strike section
1204 of the bill (which repealed the above-and-line deductions
for interest payments on qualified education loans and tuition
and related expenses, and repealed the exclusions for interest
on United States savings bonds used to pay for tuition,
qualified tuition reductions, and employer-provided education
assistance), and reinstates the $250 above the line deduction
for out-of-pocket teacher expense. Expands the American
Opportunity Act to increase the credit to a lifetime limit of
$15,000, triples the refundable portion of the credit (from
$500 to $1,500), adds flexibility in the credit for part-time
students, and addresses an inconsistency in the code that
currently affects students who receive Pell Grants by allowing
the AOTC to go towards the costs of education that the Pell
Grant does not cover. Defeated: 3-8

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Cole........................................ Nay Ms. Slaughter..................... Yea
Mr. Woodall..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... ............
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. Hastings of Florida........... Yea
Mr. Collins..................................... Nay Mr. Polis......................... Yea
Mr. Byrne....................................... Nay
Mr. Newhouse.................................... Nay
Mr. Buck........................................ ............
Ms. Cheney...................................... Nay
Mr. Sessions, Chairman.......................... Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 143

Motion by Mr. Hastings to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #1, offered by Rep. Pascrell
Jr. (NJ) and Rep. Davis (IL) and Rep. Higgins (NY) and Rep.
Hanabusa (HI) and Rep. Thompson (CA) and Rep. Chu (CA) and Rep.
Meng (NY) and Rep. Adams (NC) and Rep. Esty (CT) and Rep.
Larson (CT) and Rep. Sanchez (CA) and Rep. Crowley (NY) and
Rep. Suozzi (NY) and Rep. Titus (NV) and Rep. Raskin (MD),
which would restore the deduction for state and local taxes in
full. Defeated: 3-8

Rules Committee record vote No. 144

Motion by Mr. Hastings of Florida to make in order and
provide the appropriate waivers to amendment #57, offered by
Rep. Larson (CT) and Rep. Sewell (AL) and Rep. Beatty (OH) and
Rep. Carbajal (CA) and Rep. Davis (IL) and Rep. Pascrell Jr.
(NJ) and Rep. Blumenauer (OR) and Rep. Hanabusa (HI) and Rep.
Barragan (CA) and Rep. Scott (GA) and Rep. Maloney (NY) and
Rep. Castor (FL) and Rep. Tonko (NY) and Rep. Larsen (WA) and
Rep. Clarke (NY) and Rep. Pingree (ME) and Rep. Lipinski (IL)
and Rep. Bonamici (OR) and Rep. Conyers Jr. (MI) and Rep.
Frankel (FL) and Rep. Keating (MA) and Rep. Lewis (GA) and Rep.
Welch (VT) and Rep. Chu (CA) and Rep. Garamendi (CA) and Rep.
Adams (NC) and Rep. Esty (CT) and Rep. Watson Coleman (NJ) and
Rep. Peterson (MN) and Rep. Langevin (RI) and Rep. Ellison (MN)
and Rep. Crowley (NY) and Rep. Courtney (CT) and Rep. Torres
(CA) and Rep. Cohen (TN) and Rep. Rush (IL) and Rep. Lujan (NM)
and Rep. Cardenas (CA) and Rep. Connolly (VA) and Rep.
Espaillat (NY) and Rep. Lynch (MA) and Rep. Titus (NV) and Rep.
Schakowsky (IL) and Rep. DeFazio (OR) and Rep. DeLauro (CT),
which would strike section 1308 and restores the 7.5% threshold
for the medical expense deduction. Defeated: 3-7

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Cole........................................ Nay Ms. Slaughter..................... Yea
Mr. Woodall..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... ............
Mr. Burgess..................................... ............ Mr. Hastings of Florida........... Yea
Mr. Collins..................................... Nay Mr. Polis......................... Yea
Mr. Byrne....................................... Nay
Mr. Newhouse.................................... Nay
Mr. Buck........................................ ............
Ms. Cheney...................................... Nay
Mr. Sessions, Chairman.......................... Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 145

Motion by Mr. Polis to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #44, offered by Rep. Polis
(CO), which would exempt Cannabis businesses from 280e of the
federal tax code. Defeated: 3-8

Rules Committee record vote No. 146

Motion by Mr. Polis to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #127, offered by Rep. Polis
(CO), which would allow renewable energy projects to form
Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), which combine the funding
advantages of corporations and the tax advantages of
partnerships. Defeated: 3-8

Rules Committee record vote No. 147

Motion by Mr. Polis to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #43, offered by Rep. Polis
(CO) and Rep. Pocan (WI) and Rep. Ellison (MN) and Rep. Huffman
(CA), which would prevent oil, gas and coal industries from
using Master Limited Partnerships (MLP's). Defeated: 3-8

Rules Committee record vote No. 148

Motion by Mr. Polis to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #67, offered by Rep. Buck
(CO), which would prevent the deduction of settlements, or
related legal fees, related to sexual assault or sexual
harassment as a business expense. Defeated: 3-8

Rules Committee record vote No. 149

Motion by Mr. Polis to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #106, offered by Rep. Polis
(CO), which would repeal the eligibility of unborn children to
be allowed as beneficiaries of 529 accounts. Defeated: 3-8

Rules Committee record vote No. 150

Motion by Mr. Polis to make in order and provide the
appropriate waivers to amendment #62, offered by Rep. Polis
(CO), which would eliminate federal alcohol taxes on kombucha
and update regulations for kombucha manufacturers; and
amendment #63, offered by Rep. Polis (CO) and Rep. Schweikert
(AZ), which would create a structure for taxing purchases made
with cryptocurrency, and allows small purchases to be made with
cryptocurrency without extensive reporting requirements.
Defeated: 3-8

Rules Committee record vote No. 151

Motion by Mr. Cole to report the rule. Adopted: 8-3

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Cole........................................ Yea Ms. Slaughter..................... Nay
Mr. Woodall..................................... Yea Mr. McGovern...................... ............
Mr. Burgess..................................... Yea Mr. Hastings of Florida........... Nay
Mr. Collins..................................... Yea Mr. Polis......................... Nay
Mr. Byrne....................................... Yea
Mr. Newhouse.................................... Yea
Mr. Buck........................................ ............
Ms. Cheney...................................... Yea
Mr. Sessions, Chairman.......................... Yea
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[all]