This week, Arnold Ventures Tax and Fiscal Policy Fellow Scott Hodge joined radio stations across the country to mark Tax Day and share how Congress can take action to advance fiscally responsible tax reform.
Listeners in South Carolina, New York, Oregon, Ohio, Wisconsin, and nationwide heard from Hodge about how Congress can extend key provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) without adding to the deficit.
“We have to do both,” said Hodge on The Vicki McKenna Show. “We have to make these tax cuts permanent so that the economy has surety, so that we have predictability, so that we can try to inject some additional economic growth into the economy. At the same time, as you mentioned, spending is out of control. … So we’re going to have to get a hold of federal spending and start clawing that back so that we can extend the tax cuts in a responsible manner.”
Hodge highlighted the 20 priority reforms Arnold Ventures proposed for a more budget-friendly tax reform bill– including cracking down on abuses of risk adjustments for Medicare Advantage insurers.
“In many cases, the government is over-rewarding or over-paying providers who run these health insurance plans that are aimed at both the Medicaid and Medicare recipients. And you can go with that and reduce the waste in there without harming the actual people who need those benefits,” said Hodge on WRNN.
The report also highlights tax loopholes to close and inefficient tax credits to end, raising revenue to extend more effective, pro-growth tax provisions.
“We can make big changes on the tax side where we can make the economy much more dynamic through smart tax reform, getting rid of all the loopholes and deductions that really benefit the rich and big business at the expense of real people,” said Hodge on WSYR.
In the coming weeks, tax writers in Congress will get to work on the details of the upcoming tax plan.
“The House is much more willing to make some of those tough decisions, and they propose cutting more than $2 trillion worth of spending over the next decade to at least partially pay for it,” said Hodge on the Lars Larson Show. “That’s not enough in my mind, but at least it’s a start in the right direction.”
Read Arnold Ventures’ full report on fiscally responsible tax reform here.
