Some Senate Republicans are demanding a floor debate because they disagree with elements of the SECURE Act. For example, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wants to restore a provision that would help cover homeschooling expenses.
In a statement to ABC News a Cruz spokesperson said, “The Senate can and should act for the benefit of Gold Star families while also benefiting school kids all across the country, including students with disabilities, public school students, and homeschool students. Sen. Cruz will continue working with his colleagues to achieve both the Gold Star families tax fix and the expansion of 529 plans in the retirement bill.”
The other route would be for the House to call up the Senate’s bill from the suspension calendar and pass the narrower fix that would then be signed by the president.
In a statement from Sen. Pat Toomey’s office, indicated the House could easily provide relief to the Gold Star families by voting on the legislation that the Senate approved in May.
“Instead, House Democrats are playing politics with the issue and using the Gold Star tax fix as a bargaining tool to pass their comprehensive re-write of our nation’s retirement savings,” the Pennsylvania senator’s office said in the statement.
Braden-Rogers estimates she’s spent hundreds of hours trying to move the bill forward, including speaking and emailing with dozens of senators, representatives and congressional staffers on both sides of the aisle. She said she’s spoken to staff from the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and met with staff from the offices of Cruz and Toomey.
“They need to pass the legislation — point blank,” Braden-Rogers said. “They need to put aside the partisan politics that this has turned into, and think about Gold Star families who are really suffering because of this tax plunder, if you want to call it that.”
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Despite Braden-Rogers concerns, Toomey’s office was optimistic the issue would be fixed by the end of the year, and that the fix would be “retroactive,” putting money back into the pockets of Gold Star families.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
