Tax Reform Update: APLU Details Concerns with House and Senate Tax Bills

In early November, lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced legislation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, aimed at reforming the nation’s tax code. APLU President Peter McPherson sent a letter to all members of Congress outlining how a number of the provisions in the House and Senate bills would negatively impact students and seriously diminish public universities’ ability to fulfill their teaching, research, and community engagement missions.

APLU’s most recent letter to Capitol Hill expressed strong concerns with provisions in the Senate bill and urged the Senate to not adopt provisions of the House bill that would negatively impact students.

The House passed its bill earlier this month and the full Senate is expected to consider its version of the bill this week. If the Senate bill passes, lawmakers will need to reconcile differences among the bills.

APLU institutions have been deeply engaged in advocacy on the bills and will continue to press for changes to remove provisions that would have deeply negative consequence to higher education.