No Johnson Amendment Repeal In Conference Version of Tax Bill

The Conference Committee version of the Tax Reform Act which will be released today will not contain a repeal of the Johnson Amendment.  Washington Post reports that the Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that repeal of this provision cannot be included in legislation passed through the reconciliation process. The so-called "Byrd Rule" does not allow measures passed by reconciliation to contain matters extraneous to revenues or expenditures.  The Johnson Amendment bars non-profit organizations from engaging in partisan political activity.  A partial repeal of the Johnson Amendment had been in the House version of the tax bill (see prior posting), but not the Senate version (see prior posting). [Thanks to Nathan Walker for the lead.]