By J. Scott Applewhite, AP
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks Tuesday about the payroll tax negotiations at the Capitol.
By ELIZABETH BEWLEY, Gannett Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Most members of Tennessee's congressional delegation wanted nothing to do with the tax-cut extension Congress passed Friday, arguing it adds too much to the national debt.
But two Tennessee Republicans - Reps. Stephen Fincher of Frog Jump and Chuck Fleischmann of Ooltewah - voted for the bill, which extends the 2-percentage-point payroll tax cut through the end of the year.
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, also voted yes.
"To be clear, this is no time to raise taxes," Fincher said after the vote. "I voted to extend the payroll tax cut and stop a 2-percent tax increase on Americans."
The tax cut will save around $80 a month for people earning $50,000 a year and will save high-income workers a maximum $2,200 for the year.
It also extends benefits for the long-term unemployed and prevents a large cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors. It pays for that so-called "doc fix" in part by cutting $5 billion from a fund created by the 2010 health-care reform law that aims to prevent certain diseases.
Fincher and Fleischmann said they liked that the bill cuts funding for a provision of the health-care reform law.
"Chuck has promised to do that each time he has the chance," said Fleischmann's spokesman, Jordan Powell.
The Senate approved the legislation 60-36, following approval in the House on a 293-132 vote. President Barack Obama is expected to sign it.
A breakthrough in negotiations over the bill came when Republicans agreed not to demand savings to offset the cost of extending the Social Security payroll tax cut. The Congressional Budget Office says extending the tax break will add $89.3 billion through 2022 to a federal debt that's now a record $15.3 trillion. The cost of extending unemployment benefits and preventing the Medicare reimbursement cut are almost completely paid for.
"Congress should be shrinking the deficit, not increasing it," Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville said in explaining his vote against the bill.
Republican Sen. Bob Corker said cutting payroll taxes "will do little to help the economy and make it harder to get spending under control," and Republican Rep. Diane Black of Gallatin said the bill is an example of "the worst kind of Washington game."
Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood said she supports the spirit of tax relief, but added that the bill should have been publicly available 72 hours before Friday's vote - a rule Republicans set last year in an effort to increase transparency.
"The American people are tired of broken promises," Blackburn said.
The legislation doesn't extend a provision allowing taxpayers in Tennessee and other states that don't tax wages to deduct state and local sales taxes when they file their federal income tax returns. If Congress doesn't renew the benefit, Tennesseans won't be able to deduct this year's sales-tax payments on returns filed next year.
Lawmakers say they're not too worried because they have until the end of the year to extend the deduction, in place since 2004.
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Contact Elizabeth Bewley at ebewley@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @ebewley.