Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked an effort by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to restore the 100 percent tax deduction for gambling losses after it was cut down to 90 percent in President Trump’s massive tax and spending package that became law last week.
Cortez Masto attempted to restore the full deduction via unanimous consent on the floor, arguing that the provision, which many Senate Republicans were unaware of until the entire bill became law, would harm her state immensely. Las Vegas is known as the “gambling capital of the world.”
“It will do irreparable harm to our nation’s gaming industry if it takes effect — especially in Nevada,” she said on the floor, adding that it will “disincentivize” gamblers, pointing to those competing at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this week.
“It will move major events that drive our economy offshore and push wagering into illegal markets, and it could punish tourists who come to Vegas to win big,” she added.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) objected to her effort, but also sought to amend it before passing it once again.
Young noted that he is actually supportive of Cortez Masto’s bill to restore the full deduction, but he said that he wanted a carve-out from the endowment tax for religious institutions. The provision was initially stricken from the “big, beautiful bill” by the Senate parliamentarian.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) eventually objected to the amended proposal.
“The Republican bill is full of special carve-outs for some groups, new taxes on others,” he said. “The fact is when you rush a process like this this way and cram in all of these policies that you haven’t really thought about, you risk some consequences for people back home, and that is what is going on here and this attempt by our colleague to pass this special tax carve-out for just one institution.”
The University of Notre Dame is part of Indiana, which Young represents.
“It is a shame we cannot pass this common sense fix because Republicans want to weigh it down with unrelated measures that they voted to support,” Cortez Masto said, adding that she still hopes to get the revision across the finish line eventually.
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