Last week, the Senate released its tax bill, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Unlike the House bill, the Senate’s version would allow the current exemption for graduate students’ waived tuition to continue. While this is welcome news, as the House and Senate strive to pass final bills before the December recess, the House provision could still prevail when they reconcile their bills.

The House bill passed out of the Ways and Means Committee last Thursday and is now under consideration in the House Rules Committee. It is expected to reach the House floor for consideration later today, with a floor vote projected for Thursday. While the bill has been amended as it has moved through committee, the provision to tax graduate student tuition waivers remains.  

The Senate bill is still under consideration in the Senate Finance Committee. A new list of amendments—including one that would repeal the Obamacare individual mandate—were introduced on Tuesday afternoon. Democrats on the Finance Committee are now calling for extended time to review the amendments and Republicans are looking to move the bill forward quickly. The committee is taking up the bill again this morning. The Affordable Care Act individual mandate repeal will likely be the focus of debate, with tax code-specific topics taking a backseat.

It is still crucial to take action to oppose the House effort to raise the tax burden on graduate students—who already struggle to make ends meet.

Click here to take action to oppose the provision in the House bill that would make graduate school unaffordable to many by significantly raising students’ tax liabilities.