Key lawmaker says 2009 could bring tax overhaul

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La., told an audience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that the best opportunity for a complete overhaul of tax laws might not arrive until 2009.

By then, two looming problems will push lawmakers toward action, said McCrery, who is often named among the lawmakers who could take the helm of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee next year.

One problem is the growth of the alternative minimum tax, a looming shadow over some middle-class families. The number of taxpayers facing the tax expands each year, and lawmakers regularly respond with expensive but temporary fixes to slow its growth.

The second factor is the expiration of many tax cuts at the end of 2010. Confronting those two issues could force the attention of taxpayers and lawmakers on tax reform. "We're going to need a lot of external pressure," McCrery said.

Connie Mack, the former senator who led a presidential panel recommending ideas for tax reform, said taxpayers certainly should not expect serious efforts before November's midterm congressional elections.

"I'd like for it to be an issue debated in the next election cycle, but I don't see that happening," Mack said. He said he hopes the issue will come up before the 2008 presidential election.

Mack spoke at a Republican policy committee panel where lawmakers discussed their tax reform ideas, which ranged from a flat tax to legislation that would abolish federal income taxes and eliminate the Internal Revenue Service.

Overhauling tax laws would be made easier, McCrery said, if Republicans and Democrats prove they can work together by successfully tackling Social Security's deteriorating finances before the next presidential election.

House and Senate Democratic leaders said McCrery's mention of renewing the Social Security debate next year showed Republicans ready to push anew for adding private accounts to the retirement and disability program.

"The American people were loud and clear when they rejected privatizing Social Security, but Bush Republicans don't seem to have listened," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement.

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Contributing: Kasie Hunt