WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, prior to President Trump’s first visit to his department, said the administration will soon release a comprehensive tax reform plan, is working on broad financial reform, and plans to review significant tax rules for undue financial burdens.
In a conference call with reporters, Mnuchin said he has been meeting with House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, every week for the last month or two on tax reform and that the administration is very close to coming out with a comprehensive package. President Trump is “very focused on this” issue, he added.
The president, he said, will issue an executive order on Friday directing the Treasury to review of all significant tax rules issued since the beginning of 2016 to see which ones are unnecessarily complex and cause undue financial burdens. The order will instruct the Treasury to issue a report detailing which rules are problematic and come up with recommendations to either repeal or modify them.
Mnuchin also said that the administration is considering broad financial reform that goes beyond the overhaul of the Dodd-Frank Act and has had roughly 16 meetings, each with 50 or more individuals including regulators, business men and women, and others to discuss this issue.
He and the Treasury staff have been working closely with House Financial Services Committee chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, on regulatory reform, Mnuchin said.
Asked about the administration’s position on the draft Financial CHOICE Act that Hensarling released on Wednesday, Mnuchin, said, “I will say we are supportive of him bringing forward this legislation and look forward to working with him and Congress on the specifics of it.”
The draft bill has several municipal bond-related provisions. Committee members plan to discuss the draft measure at a hearing to be held on Wednesday, April 26.
