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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 17 december 2019
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‘Obamacare’ tax repeal added to $1.4T wrap-up spending bill

By ANDREW TAYLOR Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D- For business, there’s a
Associated Press Calif., Treasury Secretary seven-year extension of
WASHINGTON (AP) — Re- Steven Mnuchin, and other the charter of the Export-
tired coal miners and top leaders on Capitol Hill. Import Bank, which helps
longtime opponents of The package is expected finance transactions ben-
Obama-era taxes on high- to be unveiled at midday efiting U.S. exporters, as
cost health plans are eye- Monday for a House vote well as a renewal of the
ing big wins as top con- on Tuesday and the Sen- government’s terrorism risk
gressional leaders and the ate is expected to vote insurance program. The fi-
Trump White House close by Thursday or Friday. The nancially-troubled govern-
in on a deal on a govern- developments were de- ment flood insurance pro-
ment-wide spending bill scribed by Democratic gram would be extended
that’s also carrying lots of and GOP aides who asked through September.
overdue Washington busi- for anonymity because the Labor won repeal of the
ness. measure was not yet pub- so-called Cadillac tax, a
The bill would also increase lic. 40% tax on high-cost em-
the age nationwide for The legislation is laced with ployer health plans, which
purchasing tobacco prod- provisions reflecting divid- was originally intended The U.S. Capitol in Washington is shrouded in mist, Friday night,
ucts from 18 to 21. ed power in Washington. to curb rapidly growing Dec. 13, 2019.
The legislation would fore- The sweeping legislation, health care spending. But Associated Press
stall a government shut- likely to be broken up into it disproportionately affect- Democrats controlling the icaid funding for the cash-
down this weekend and two packages for political ed high-end plans won un- House would win increased poor government of Puer-
give President Donald purposes, is part of a ma- der union contracts, and funding for early childhood to Rico, which is struggling
Trump steady funding jor final burst of legislation Democratic labor allies education and a variety of to recover the hurricane
for his U.S.-Mexico bor- that’s passing Congress had previously succeeded other domestic programs. devastation and a result-
der fence. The year-end this week despite bitter di- in temporary repeals. They also won higher Med- ing economic downturn.q
package is anchored by a visions and Wednesday’s
$1.4 trillion spending mea- likely impeachment of
sure that caps a difficult, Trump. Thursday promises
months-long battle over a vote on a major rewrite
spending priorities. of the North American Free
The roster of add-ons grew Trade Agreement.
over the weekend to in- The core of the bill is formed
clude permanent repeal of by the 12 annual agency
a tax on high-cost “Cadil- appropriations bills passed
lac” health insurance ben- by Congress each year. It
efits and finance health fills in the details of a bipar-
care and pension benefits tisan framework from July
for 92,000 retired union that delivered about $100
coal miners threatened by billion in agency spending
the insolvency of their pen- increases over the com-
sion fund. A tax on medical ing two years instead of
devices and health insur- automatic spending cuts
ance plans would also be that would have sharply
repealed permanently. slashed both the Pentagon
The deficit tab for the pack- and domestic agencies.
age grew as well — almost The increase in the to-
$400 billion alone over 10 bacco purchasing age
years to repeal the three to 21 does not appear to
so-called “Obamacare” address broader issues of
taxes alone — with a com- regulating so-called vap-
panion package to extend ing products, but details of
several business-friendly tax the measure are likely to
breaks still under negotia- be released early Monday
tion. The Obama-era taxes afternoon, aides said.
have previously been sus- Other add-ons include a
pended on a piecemeal variety of provisions sought
basis. by business and labor inter-
The late-stage nego- ests and their lobbyists in
tiations involved House Washington.