The U.S. Senate passed sweeping tax reform legislation on Dec. 2, overcoming a number of setbacks over the course of a long week.  The effort to win over holdouts and cobble together the necessary votes led to a number of late-breaking changes to the bill, culminating in what was essentially a party line vote, with Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) as the only dissenting Republican.

The process now moves into the final phase, as the Senate and House seek to resolve the differences between their respective bills.  Last night the House voted on a motion to go to conference on the tax reform bill.

Named conferees will be:
Ways & Means Committee: Kevin Brady (R-Texas), Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), Diane Black (R-Tenn.), Kristi Noem (R-S.D.)
Natural Resources Committee: Mike Bishop (R-Mich.), Don Young (R-Alaska)
Energy & Commerce Committees: Greg Walden (R-Ore.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.)

On Dec. 6, the Senate will take up their motion to go to conference and name their conferees.

Once in conference, we expect an initial public meeting to start the conference the week of Dec. 11. After that, much of the conference work will be done in a closed setting. The timing of the conference is unpredictable, but it points to a conference report introduced in both chambers by the week of Dec.18 and passed by both the House and Senate by Dec. 22 (before a new Senator from Alabama is certified), and signed by the president by the end of the year.

ABC is working with both chambers to see that AMT repeal is included in the final package (it was included in the House bill).