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Toomey: Pa. Matters To White House On Tax Reform Bill

Philadelphia (CBS) -  Ivanka Trump is in Bucks County to promote President Donald Trump's tax reform plan. Earlier this month, the president himself held a tax reform rally in Harrisburg. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania tells The Chris Stigall Show on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that he thinks the White House is keyed in on the Commonwealth.

"I think it's partly because 13 of the 18 members of Congress from Pennsylvania are Republicans. Many of them come from from swing districts. The 13 Republicans representing Pennsylvania in the House, really run the ideological spectrum from some of the most moderate centrist members, to some of the most conservative members. If they can hold 13 of 13 Pennsylvania Republicans on tax reform, than they probably got 218 votes to get it across the floor."

Toomey says he thinks they'll be successful at passing tax reform, but it's going to be really hard. The House looks to pass a budget bill this week that the Senate passed last week.

As far as the latest health care bill from Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Toomey says he's not enthusiastic about it.

"What it contemplates is providing the legislative authority to continue what are called a cost-sharing reduction payment. Those are payments to insurance companies which allows the insurance companies, and in fact requires the insurance companies, to lower premiums on the exchanges. If those payments don't go through, then premiums are higher and the vast majority of people who are paying those premiums get a tax credit and that goes up. So either the individuals are subsidized through tax credits or individuals are subsidized through these payments to insurance companies. Either way, taxpayers are going to be subsidizing the fact that insurance costs too much money."

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