WASHINGTON — House Republicans will move forward with a "Plan B" fiscal cliff package that will not include a cap on the value of tax-exemption or other tax expenditures, expecting to vote on it in the House as early as Thursday.
"Our hope continues to be to reach an agreement with the president on a balanced approach that averts the fiscal cliff," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio., told reporters at a press conference Tuesday morning. "At the same time that we will continue to talk to the president, we're going to Plan B."
But House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D.-Md., told reporters afterward that the Republican's Plan B is essentially a proposal that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., floated last year and that he and Pelosi "will urge our members to vote no" on it.
"It's not a serious effort and doesn't get us to where we need to be," Hoyer said.
The GOP Plan B option would raise tax rates only on taxpayers who make more than $1 million, Boehner said following his meeting with rank-and-file Republicans.
The plan would also deal with the expiring alternative minimum tax and the estate tax.
But the plan would not do anything to stop the sequester — the $1.2 trillion of across-the-board spending cuts slated to take effect over 10 years beginning in January.
A Boehner spokesperson said it would not include a cap on deductions, but would rather simply stop tax hikes for those making up to $1 million.
The Plan B option comes as Republicans called President Obama's latest offer for a deal "unbalanced."
"What we've offered meets the definition of balanced, but the president isn't there yet," Boehner said.
Obama had reportedly offered Boehner a counteroffer Tuesday that would reduce the amount of revenue he is seeking to $1.2 trillion from $1.4 trillion and limit the tax hikes to households making more than $400,000 per year rather than $250,000.
He also agreed to increase his offer for spending cuts and drop his request for an extension of the payroll tax holiday.
But Obama is still seeking $80 billion in new spending on infrastructure and unemployment benefits as well as an increase in the debt limit to avoid a fight over it for the next two years, according to the Washington Post.
The new spending appears to be a key sticking point for Republicans.
