1099 repeal measure's pay-for mechanism triggers democratic concern

With a House vote scheduled for Thursday, the White House is on record opposing the "offset" used to pay for the repeal of this reporting provision included in the health law, but it also stopped short of threatening a veto. This part of the bill also may cause it to lose bipartisan support in the lower chamber.

The Hill: White House Backs 1099 Repeal, Concerned About How To Pay For It
The Obama administration expressed strong support for repealing the 1099 reporting provision included in the health care law but is concerned about how the cost of the measure is offset in House and Senate legislation. "The administration strongly opposes the House's offset to pay for this repeal, which would undo an improvement enacted with nearly unanimous support in the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act that eliminated an egregious 'cliff' in the tax system affecting middle income taxpayers," according to Statement of Administration Policy released Tuesday night (Needham, 3/1).

National Journal: New House Version Of 1099 Repeal Loses Dem Support
The House will vote on Thursday to repeal the much-maligned 1099 tax-reporting provisions in the health care reform law, but the version approved in the House Rules Committee on Tuesday might strip the effort of any bipartisan support. Though there has been a long-standing bipartisan effort to repeal the provision of the health care law requiring businesses to file 1099 tax reforms for purchases of more than $600, the version that advanced on Tuesday includes a way to pay for the $17 billion cost that is widely opposed by Democrats. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., replaced a version of the bill that enjoyed the support of 270 House members, but which did not include a way to pay for the repeal, with a new version (Snell, 3/1).

Politico Pro: W.H.: Funding For 1099 Repeal Unacceptable
The White House says it doesn't like the way House Republican leaders want to pay for repealing the widely disliked 1099 reporting provision in the health care overhaul law but stopped short Tuesday of threatening a presidential veto. The House bill would pay for the repeal by making consumers repay all of their insurance subsidies under the health care law once their income rises beyond 400 percent of the federal poverty line. House Democrats call that a tax increase on the middle class, and the administration agreed in a policy statement (Hoskinson, 3/1).