Senator Bill Nelson says he'll work toward tax reform as Congress faces new fiscal deadlines in December and January. The Democrat is the only Floridian on a bipartisan Senate-House panel charged with crafting a budget blueprint by December 13th.
That would give Congress time to act before January 15th on funding to keep the government running.Nelson says the budget panel already is meeting. He says he's reached out to Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican he's worked with in the past. Nelson emphasized tax reform over deep spending cuts.
"So the idea is to simplify the tax code and get rid of a lot of the loopholes that certain individuals and businesses have because they had their special interests scratched", said Nelson.
The Florida senator doesn't expect another crisis. He blames conservative Republicans for this month's government shut-down and says the outcome has left them isolated.