Lawmakers, conservative groups don’t want ‘trigger’ in tax bill

Some GOP senators and outside conservative groups are raising concerns about the potential inclusion of a “trigger” in the Senate tax bill if the measure fails to meet economic growth projections.

GOP deficit hawks in the Senate have been pushing for a backstop that would scale back tax cuts if they add more to the deficit than Republicans expect. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday that he has reached an agreement with leadership to include a trigger in the bill, though he did not provide any details about the provision.

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But others are wary of automatic tax increases.

“Right now, my feeling about it is that I’d rather drink weed killer than vote for the thing,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters, though he added that he’s willing to keep an open mind.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also said he’d prefer a trigger not be included.

“I’m not very excited about having any automatic raises in taxes,” he said. “I think if your economy is slowing down, that’s a terrible time to raise taxes.”

But Paul, who came out in support of the current version of the bill on Monday, added that the inclusion of a backstop probably wouldn’t ultimately cost him his vote on the overall measure.

Both Paul and Kennedy expressed some interest in an idea floated by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz suggested including a provision that automatically cuts taxes further if economic growth is more robust than projected, in addition to a trigger that increases taxes if economic growth is slower than anticipated.

A number of activists with right-leaning groups are also pushing back against the trigger concept.

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said in a statement: “No one invests in response to ‘maybe.’ A trigger that threatens tax hikes is a self-fulfilling threat to kill jobs.”

Brent Gardner, chief government affairs officer at Americans for Prosperity, said a trigger provision “would add unnecessary complexity and uncertainty into the tax code, stifle the economy and generate less revenue.”