Jenkins blasts Obama as House passes compromise tax bill

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., voted with the Republican majority Wednesday in passing a compromise tax bill that extend for one year certain tax breaks that expired at the end of 2013.

But she also blasted President Barack Obama for threatening to veto a larger tax bill that will likely re-emerge next year when Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate.

“In this environment, in divided government, we nearly had a plan to give some stability to our tax code,” Jenkins said in a statement on the eve of Wednesday’s vote. “Then the president spoke, saying it’s my way or the highway issuing a veto threat to our agreement.”

Jenkins, who last month won re-election to her seat from the 2nd District, which includes Lawrence, serves as the vice chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.

The bill, which passed 378-46, includes extensions for certain individual tax deductions, including deductions for sales taxes paid to state and local governments, and qualified tuition expenses.

It also includes extensions of several business tax programs such as incentives for wind and other renewable energy production.

Without passage of the bill, many individuals and businesses would see tax increases when they file their 2014 returns next spring because those breaks would no longer be available. Congressional budget officials estimate the total cost of those tax breaks at $44.7 billion over 10 years.

Republicans and some Democrats had wanted a more extensive bill that would have made some of those tax breaks permanent but would have phased out the wind energy tax credit after 2017. The larger bill also did not include two Democratic priorities: a permanent expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and a child tax credit for low-income families.