GOP criticism of tax bill grows, but few ready to vote against it

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Fresh criticisms of the GOP tax bill emerged Tuesday from centrist and conservative Republicans following reports that the legislation would hike taxes on the middle class, as well as some wealthy Americans.

Conservative Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called raising taxes on people in high-tax, Democratic states like New York and California “a mistake” — a concern shared by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who became the first Golden State Republican to reject the current House bill.

The conservative outside group Club for Growth also outlined four areasthat it objected to in the tax bill, including the addition of a fourth tax bracket for millionaires and the fact that the bill phases out the estate tax rather than quickly nixing it.

Still, most Republicans predicted the bill will pass with a big GOP vote next week. And there was a sense that the small group of on-the-fence lawmakers were holding out simply to extract some last-minute changes ahead of their eventual support.

“I’m undecided. We just want to see how the final bill shapes out. … On the business side, [it’s] all good,” said Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), who was just elected co-chairman of the moderate Tuesday Group. Katko has concerns with the bill axing and paring back state and local tax (SALT) deductions that are popular in affluent blue states like New York, New Jersey and California.

“At first glance, it looks like it’s not as bad as I thought,” Katko said of the SALT impact. But “until I get the final numbers, I can’t make a final determination.”

[contentcards url=”http://thehill.com/homenews/house/359213-gop-criticism-of-tax-bill-grows-but-few-ready-to-vote-against-it” target=”_blank”]
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