EXCLUSIVE: GOP Sen Says ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill Must Provide Permanent Tax Relief Before He Can Vote ‘Yes’

Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines is reiterating that the House-passed version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will have to permanently extend “pro-growth” tax provisions in order to win his vote.

Daines, a Trump ally and member of the Senate Finance Committee, is leading the charge to enact a permanent extension of several business tax breaks that would expire in five years under the House-passed bill. He told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday that he is prepared to vote against the bill without permanence, but voiced optimism that Trump and Senate Republicans would agree to the change. (RELATED: Senate GOP Advances Tax Cuts, Border Security Spending After Marathon Session)

“My highest priority is permanence,” Daines told the DCNF, arguing that Senate Republicans should have made key business tax provisions permanent when Trump’s tax cuts were initially enacted in 2017.

“Those [research and development expensing and capital expenditures] are two of the provisions that need [permanence] more than anything else,” Daines added.

Daines attended a meeting at the White House on Wednesday afternoon alongside members of the Senate Finance Committee, where he made the case for making the business tax cuts permanent to the president and senior Trump administration officials. Senate Republicans are racing to modify the House-passed bill, so an amended-version can clear the upper chamber by Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s July 4 deadline.

Daines argues that a permanent extension of the business tax provisions would maximize the bill’s impact to further economic growth, spur innovation breakthroughs and allow the United States economy to maintain a competitive edge over China.

“There’s nothing more stimulative and nothing more in terms of building out innovation,” Daines said. “That’s why I don’t want to see a sunset [on these provisions].”

“That uncertainty for the business community in America freezes capital, but by having permanence, it [businesses] will continue to unleash capital investments,” Daines added.

Though permanently extending the business provisions in the tax portion of the bill could add hundreds of billions to its price tag, Daines said the provisions will pay for itself, citing their “highly stimulative” impact on the economy.

“It more than pays for itself because of additional economic growth,” Daines said. “And then — who can put a price tag on the next innovation breakthrough as a result of investing more in R&D [research and development]?”

Making the business provisions permanent would more than double the long-run GDP effects of the “big, beautiful” bill’s tax portion, according to recent analysis from the Tax Foundation.

“The president’s very open to that,” Daines said. “In fact, he sees the expensing on CapEx [capital expenditures] is one of the most stimulative provisions of the entire tax bill, and then the expensing of R&D is very important for global competitiveness.”

“The follow-up conversations have been very productive,” Daines added.

Though Speaker Mike Johnson is urging the Senate to make minimal modifications to the House-passed bill, Daines argued that House Republicans would be able to accept changes to the business provisions within the tax package.

“Chairman Smith and Speaker Johnson are aware and I think they are assuming and probably expecting that we are going to take … the House bill and make those permanent,” Daines said.

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