{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/in-the-news/senate-nixes-provision-boosting-conservative-college-after-uproar", "Senate nixes provision boosting conservative college after uproar", "2017-12-02", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Jeff Merkley", "M001176", "www.merkley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senate nixes provision boosting conservative college after uproar \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSaturday, December 2, 2017\r\n\r\n\t\n\r\n\r\n\r\n  \r\n    By:\u00a0\r\n    JORDAIN CARNEY\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSenators agreed to nix a provision in the Senate tax bill early Saturday morning that would exempt Hillsdale College, a leading conservative college in Michigan, from an excise tax on schools with more than 500 students or large endowments.\r\nSenators voted 52-48 to strike the provision with GOP Sens.\u00a0Susan Collins(Maine),\u00a0Lisa Murkowski\u00a0(Alaska),\u00a0Deb Fischer\u00a0(Neb.) and\u00a0John Kennedy(La.) siding with Democrats to pass the amendment from Democratic Sen.\u00a0Jeff Merkley\u00a0(Ore.).\r\nThe surprise move came amid an uproar over the inclusion of the exemption from excise taxes for any university that does not accept federal financial aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act.\r\nThough several colleges do not accept federal funding, Democrats quickly seized on the section of the tax bill, arguing that Hillsdale College would be the only school that would qualify according to the guidelines set out under the legislation.\r\n\"Hillsdale College has powerful friends, including our secretary of education, but isn't that the type of insider deal we should oppose? A vote against this amendment is a vote for an earmark, for a school for powerful friends and subsidizing education,\" Merkley said ahead of the vote.\u00a0\r\nThe tax earmark was expected to be a big win for a school with several connections to the Trump administration.\r\nFor example, Erik Prince, the brother of Education Secretary\u00a0Betsy DeVos, graduated from Hillsdale in 1992.\r\nHillsdale graduates who joined the Trump administration include Josh Venable, chief of staff at the Department of Education; David Morrell, associate counsel to the president; Trump speechwriter Brittany Baldwin, and Stephen Ford, a speechwriter for Vice President Pence.\r\nThe language in the bill was sponsored by GOP Sens.\u00a0Pat Toomey\u00a0(Pa.) and\u00a0Ted Cruz\u00a0(Texas).\u00a0\r\nToomey unsuccessfully urged his colleagues to keep the measure in the tax bill.\r\nHe argued that its inclusion in the tax plan was \"not about Hillsdale College exclusively. This is a broader idea.\"\u00a0\r\n\"I think it's a perfectly reasonable proposition that if a college chooses to forgo the very substantial funds available to it from federal taxpayers, it's okay to say you'll be exempt from this endowment so I would urge my colleagues to vote 'no' on this amendment,\" he said.\r\n\r\n \r\n           \r\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/in-the-news/senate-nixes-provision-boosting-conservative-college-after-uproar"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4640239533036947, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}