House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said Thursday that Congress would extend President-elect Donald Trump’s tax cuts to help seniors living on Social Security, laying out one of the many plans for the next government program. Ways and Means Committee.

“We will use reconciliation to extend the Trump tax cuts to ensure they do not expire and also to address other tax provisions that President Trump campaigned on, like no tax on tips,” Smith said on the “Just the news, no noise“TV show.

Reconciliation is a process in Congress by which lawmakers can expedite approval of legislation by bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Older voters worry that many live on fixed incomes and that Social Security taxes are a high price to pay. “As far as the Social Security tax is concerned, it is not subject to reconciliation under the law,” Smith said. “Social Security has no right to be there.” He added that there is an alternative to helping elderly people who bear the burden of high social security contributions.

“We can use the tax code in ways that help reduce the taxes that seniors pay,” Smith said. “Seniors have not seen any increase in the tax threshold. In the early 1980s, the tax threshold was $25,000 per person (and) $32,000 for a married couple. There was a penalty for marriage. In fact, it hasn’t changed in 40 years.”

He added that inflation has also contributed significantly to the problem. “Inflation has gone up a lot in 40 years, so we’re going to have to find ways to help these seniors who have been unfairly served for 40 years,” Smith said.

Smith said the Ways and Means Committee is taking steps to pass the legislation as soon as Trump takes office.

“I can tell you that the Ways and Means Committee is ready on the first day of the next Congress, but we will continue to work for the next two months to make sure that we have all our ducks in a row,” he said. declared. Smith said a budget must be passed before reconciliation can take place, but that will take place in another committee.

One of Trump’s campaign promises he ran on was “no tax on tips” and Smith said one of the priorities of the Ways and Means Committee would be to ensure that the legislation be adopted.

“Every time we pass our tax legislation…I’ve said there’s not going to be a tax bill that leaves the House of Representatives without this ‘no tax on tips,'” he said. -he declared. “It’s in the Republican Party platform.”

He said “no tax on tips” would be in the tax bill early next year and that it was a high priority for Trump.

Smith said one of his committee’s main goals was to extend Trump’s tax cuts in the future, saying, “I will not authorize a $7 trillion tax increase on small businesses. Every American will face a tax increase if Congress doesn’t do its job. , and I am not going to allow this to happen on my watch. »