Paul Ryan Hits Ohio to Push Tax Plan With Businesses, Big Donors
House Speaker Paul Ryan is turning his attention to tax reform Wednesday, following the House of Representatives’ vote to advance the GOP's heath care bill last week.
Ryan is headed to Ohio Wednesday, a key swing state for President Trump in the 2016 election, where he will tour the factories of anodized aluminum producer Anomatic and contract packaging company Accel-Inc. At the conclusion of his tour of Accel, Ryan will participate in a roundtable with regional political and business leaders where he will give “an opening sales pitch for tax reform,” according to his office.
The GOP’s outline for tax reform, which includes a 20 percentage point cut to the corporate tax rate, across the board cuts to individual rates and a doubling of the standard deduction, was introduced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Director Gary Cohn last month. The Trump administration has maintained that reforming the corporate tax rate will attract investment, increase productivity and bring jobs back into the country.
“We have got to get our taxes on our businesses down so they can compete and hire. We think this is one of the most important things we can do to create jobs and economic growth," Ryan said during an interview on FOX & Friends Tuesday.
Wednesday evening, Paul will travel to the home of L Brands (NYSE:LB) CEO Leslie Wexner where he will headline a benefit dinner on behalf of the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to Buzzfeed News. The cost of admission to the reception is $5,000 and for the dinner is $25,000, Buzzfeed reported.
Wexner, a top Republican Party donor, was critical of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, comparing the pair to Roman Emperors Nero and Caligula. Wexner’s wife Abigail donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting Gov. John Kasich, while Mr. Wexner gave $500,000 to a group backing Jeb Bush and nearly $100,000 to national Republican committees, according to the New York Times.
While House Republicans may have scored a recent victory with the passage of the health care bill, Ryan appears to be gearing up for a new battle in the form of tax reform. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told FOX Business in February the tax reform bill would be signed by August, however last month he gave a less rosy outlook during an interview with The Financial Times, saying that “aggressive” timeline “will probably delayed a bit because of … health care.”
On Tuesday, Ryan told Fox News he is hopeful health care will pass the Senate within the next “month or two” and that a tax reform bill will get passed this year.