Gianforte talks tax reform in town hall call

Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., answered questions about tax reform, renewal of the Children's Health Insurance Program and sexual harassment Tuesday night during a telephone town hall.

Much of the hour-long event revolved around the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, different versions of which recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

The call began with Pat of Hamilton asking how close Congress is to passing the tax bill.

President Donald Trump, the House and Senate agreed on a similar framework for tax reform in September, Gianforte said.

Gianforte said House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas., is leading a group made up of House and Senate members to resolve differences and produce a final bill.

"I have confidence we will work that stuff out," he said.

A final bill, Gianforte said, should be voted on next week.

The tax bill, which is a top item on the agendas of Trump and congressional Republicans, will reduce taxes by about $1,000 for the average family next year when it would go into effect. He added that taxes on businesses would fall up to 25 percent and the child tax credit would be raised from $1,000 to $1,600.

He added that a Montana family of four making $50,000 annually would receive a tax cut of about $1,200.

Amy in Billings, who said she is a foster parent, said she is worried tax reform would mean the end a tax cut meant to incentivize adoption.

The adoption tax credit is preserved in both bills, Gianforte said.

Glenda of Cascade asked what the chances are tax reform will do away with the estate tax, known by opponents as the death tax.

The tax is paid on wealth and assets transferred from deceased individuals to their heirs. The website of the Internal Revenue Service says a filing is require on estates with combined gross assets and taxable gifts of exceeding $5.4 million in 2017 and $5.6 million in 2018.

Gianforte said both the House and Senate versions of the bill would increase the deduction from $10 million for a family to $20 million before a family has to pay the tax. The House version though, would also eliminate the tax entirely within seven years,.

"I think that is a good idea and that is why I voted for it,' he said.

Though the Senate version does double the deduction amount it does not end the tax.

He said that it is important to provide relief from the tax and eventually do away with it, because the tax can prevent ranches and farms from being kept within families.

The website of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says only 0.2 percent of American owe any estate tax.

Orrin of Kalispell said he was wary of the need for a tax cut now. Gianforte said a tax cut could further unleash economic growth and create jobs. Orrin, though, said it is unusual to have a tax cut to strengthen the economy when the unemployment rate is so low, he doesn't know if one is needed.

Gianforte said the tax cut will allow people to keep more of the money they earn and provide a between $1 trillion to $2 trillion in tax cuts for individuals, small businesses and corporations, and discourage companies from shipping jobs out of the country and increase revenue coming into the federal treasury.

"People are going to see breaks across the board, and I think it is the right thing to do," Gianforte said.

Susan of Glasgow expressed concern over the expiration of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, also known as CHIP. The federal program provides health insurance to children.

In a press release Tuesday, Gov. Steve Bullock, D-Mont., said Montana now has enough money to continue funding the program through January, but if the program expires 2,400 Montana Children would lose health coverage.

Gianforte said he voted for legislation that passed the House in November that would extend funding to the program for five years. The Senate, however, has not taken up he bill he said.

"We could use a little help from them," Gianforte said.

He said the CHIP legislation is one of many bills that were passed by the House this year, but have not been taken up by the Senate.

"We've passed 450 bills in the U.S. House so far this year and 350 of them are sitting over in the Senate," he said.

Gianforte said legislation passed by the House on forest reform, immigration and medical malpractice has also not been taken up by the Senate and said people should contact their senators and urge them to do so.

A bill to fund CHIP will likely be part of a tax cut package at the end of the year, he said.

Warren of Garner asked what is being done to help military veterans.

A veterans himself Warren said he is frustrated by the backlog of people waiting to see a doctor at a Veterans Administration clinic.

"The VA system is just disastrous," Warren said.

He said either more people should be hired at the VA or the system should be overhauled.

Gianforte said he has heard from veterans around Montana about the issue. People who can get into the VA clinic at Fort Harrison receive good care, he said, but getting an appointment is near impossible.

The Veterans' Choice program, implemented during the Obama administration was meant to address such concerns by allowing veterans to use their health care benefits with local doctors as a way to address the backlog of patients.

The Choice program was reauthorized, he said. An additional $250 million for rural veterans' care was included in a spending bill that passed this fall and Congress passed a bill that funds the VA at record levels.

Burnett of Eureka asked Gianforte about reports that Congress has set aside a $17 million fund to settle sexual harassment claims by members Congress.

There has been several allegations of sexual misconduct in Congress. Last week. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., also resigned among claims he forcibly kissed and groped women.

Allegations against President Donald Trump and Alabama Senate Republican candidate Roy Moore, who lost the election Tuesday, have also brought attention to the issue.

Gianforte said such conduct should not be tolerated.

"Sexual harassment has no place in the workplace. I wouldn't tolerate it in the private sector. It has no place in business," he said.

Gianforte said all of his staff and he himself go through sexual harassment training.

"I have zero tolerance for this in the office," he said.

There is, however, some misinformation that has been circulating about the fund, Gianforte said. The $17 million covered a variety of things including asbestos claims and age discrimination.

"We are getting all the data, but taxpayer money should not be used to settle these cases," he said.

There is a bill, Gianforte said, that would require lawmakers to pay back any settlements for sexual harassment in their offices and that he would support the bill.

The Federal Communications Commission has recently decided to reverse rules related net neutrality

Matt of Bozeman asked Gianforte if the proposed rollback of net neutrality recently being considered by the Federal Communications Commission would benefit anyone other than internet service providers,

"My concern is (from) everything I've read is that small businesses are going to be less competitive and rural areas in particular like Montana will be negatively impacted by this repeal," Matt said.

Matt also wanted to know if Congress has any oversight over the FCC to do anything about net neutrality.

Gianforte, a former software engineer, said he benefited from the internet during his career in the hi-tech sector. The rules that were in place until 2015 when they were changed during the Obama administration, he said allowed well-known companies to, be created in an internet environment that was open and free.

He said that the internet needs to stay open and available to all. He said there were somethings that needed to be done to expand access to broadband, and he is engaged in those discussions.

Gianforte said there is a lot of what he called fake news about the issue. He said reversing new rules would not limit access to content.

The FCC, he said, is looking at repealing Obama-era regulations that tried to regulate the internet.

Since the 2015 regulations went into effect, infrastructure investment has gone down significantly in the internet because there is additional regulation, Gianforte said.

"What the FCC is doing is proposing going back to the rules that allowed the internet to thrive," Gianforte said.

Editor's note: None of the callers in this story provided their last name.