Groups Pressure Sen. Johnson On Tax Bill

Groups on both sides of the proposed GOP tax cut continued to pressure Wisconsin Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson on Thursday, despite repeated signs that Johnson was likely to support the final product.

Johnson has said for weeks that he wants changes to the plan that would more significantly cut taxes for businesses that don’t organize as corporations, going so far as to say he would vote against it without those changes.

At the same time, Johnson has supported the tax bill at every juncture, passing it out of committee and voting in favor of starting debate on the plan on the Senate floor.

Still, manufacturing groups held a conference call directed at Johnson, urging him to support what they called a historic overhaul of the tax code.

“I want to be very direct,” said Jay Timmons, the president of the National Association of Manufacturers. “There is no better, no bigger, no bolder way to support manufacturing in Wisconsin and across the country than for senators to cast a vote for comprehensive tax reform.”

Timmons supported Johnson’s efforts, but stressed the need to support the tax overhaul.

But Jon Peacock, with the Wisconsin group Kids Forward, said the businesses Johnson was focusing on already enjoy tax benefits and would see their taxes cut in this bill one way or another.

“Creating an additional tax break in this bill for pass-through entities will skew this even more heavily than it is already in favor of the very wealthy,” Peacock said.

Peacock said the bill would drive up the nation’s debt and would likely result in spending cuts to government programs to make up the difference.

Johnson’s comments on the tax bill are reminiscent to earlier this year when he suggested he might vote against a Republican repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Johnson ultimately voted in favor of three versions of the repeal.