House rip-off tax plan

GOP voter support drops for House tax plan, poll says

By TOBY ECKERT

Republican voter support for the House GOP tax plan eroded sharply in the past week, and ticked down among all voters, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult tracking poll.

While Republicans still mostly back the plan, their support dropped to 59 percent from 66 percent based on what they generally know about it. GOP opposition grew to 12 percent from 9 percent, and the GOP undecided grew to 28 percent from 25 percent.

The number of registered voters overall who said they support the bill, which passed the House earlier this month, fell to 36 percent from 39 percent, while opposition rose to 36 percent from 31 percent.

Democrats continue to be overwhelmingly opposed to the plan — 58 percent, up from 52 percent the week before. Support among independents stood at 30 percent, which was unchanged.

After being read a list of provisions included in the House bill, Republican support rose to 62 percent, which was still down from 69 percent after respondents were told about the same provisions the week before. Overall voter support hit 38 percent under those circumstances, which is down from 41 percent.

Senate Republicans hope to take up their own tax legislation on the floor this week.

One warning sign for Republicans is their designs on a deduction that people can take for the state and local taxes they pay. The House plan would abolish the deduction for income taxes but preserve it for property taxes, up to $10,000. The Senate would completely eliminate the deduction.

"The least popular provision in the [House] tax bill is the proposal to eliminate the state and local tax deduction," said Morning Consult co-founder and Chief Research Officer Kyle Dropp. "Forty-four percent of voters say the changes should not be in the final bill, including 53 percent of Democrats, 41 percent of independents, and even 38 percent of Republicans."

As the action moves to the Senate, 24 percent of those polled said the chamber should pass the House bill with minor changes, and 8 percent said it should pass “as is.” Another 15 percent said the Senate should make “major changes” to the House bill, while 19 percent said the Senate should start from scratch with a new bill and 8 percent said it shouldn't pass any tax bill.

The poll surveyed 1,994 registered voters from Nov. 21-25. It has an error margin of plus or minus 2 percentage points.