releases: https://brooks.house.gov/media-center/news-releases/brooks-supports-cutting-taxes-raise-health-care-costs-and-free-speech
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://brooks.house.gov/media-center/news-releases/brooks-supports-cutting-taxes-raise-health-care-costs-and-free-speech | Brooks Supports Cutting Taxes That Raise Health Care Costs and Free Speech for Churches | 2018-12-20 | 2018 | 2018-12 | Republican | House | AL | Mo Brooks | B001274 | brooks.house.gov | legacy | Washington, DC Thursday, Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) voted Yes on H.R. 88, the combined Retirement, Savings, and Other Tax Relief Act of 2018 and Taxpayer First Act of 2018, which passed the House 220-183. Amongst other things, the bill delays many of Obamacare's more egregious taxes that drive up health care costs and protects churches from losing their tax exempt status for engaging in normal political speech in the regular course of their activities. Congressman Brooks said, Today's vote delays or repeals some of Obamacare's most egregious taxes on health care that, in turn, drive up health care costs. One delayed tax, the Medical Device Tax, is a 2.3% excise tax on medical devices sold in the United States (wheelchairs, devices for amputees, and the like). Another, the Health Insurance Tax, taxes health insurance providers, thus forcing insurers to raise health insurance premiums to cover the higher cost of health care. The Cadillac Tax is a monstrous 40% tax on high quality health insurance plans that actually acts to encourage employers to give their employees cheaper and lower quality health insurance! Each of these Obamacare taxes is counterproductive and makes it harder for Americans to pay their medical bills. I am pleased to have the opportunity to vote to repeal or delay them. Brooks continued, Another positive in the bill is its elimination of IRS restrictions on churches' free speech rights. Specifically, this bill rolls back the prohibition against churches engaging in political speech. No church should be at risk of losing its tax exempt status because it expresses political views in the regular course of its long-held religious beliefs and activities. This is particularly true when a church's expression of its political views is nothing more than its expression of religious values and views that have been the underpinning of its religion for thousands of years. Taken further, this bill eliminates the possibility the IRS, under a liberal president, will target churches for political retribution, like Obama's IRS did when it targeted Tea Party and other conservative groups. Reducing the federal government's intrusion in American's daily lives is always a winner. H.R. 88 is supported by key conservative and religious groups: Americans for Tax Reform Family Research Council FreedomWorks National Taxpayers Union Americans for Prosperity Home School Legal Defense Fund Archdiocese of New York Archdiocese of Washington, DC American Association of Christian Schools ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |