JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- We are only days away from tax increases and government spending cuts unless the President and Congress can reach a compromise. As the clock is ticking in Washington, Action News reached out to our local lawmakers to see just what, if anything, they are doing as the deadline approaches.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson was in Jacksonville feeding the homeless Wednesday morning. Nelson says it was a quick trip home to Florida because there's still more work to be done in D.C. before Jan. 1. He heads back this week to try and prevent tax hikes in the new year.
"You do it in an orderly way," said Sen. Nelson. "Next year we're going to reform the entire tax code, get rid of these tax loopholes and that way we're able to bring down the tax rates and still have money left over to lower the deficit."
Action News wanted to know if the area's other elected leaders were taking a break or if they also plan on returning to D.C. to negotiate a last-minute measure.
Reporter Ryan Smith called Congresswoman Corrine Brown's offices but didn't hear back. Her local office, as well as Congressman Ander Crenshaw's, was closed Wednesday.
In an email, Smith asked both Brown and Crenshaw "do you plan to be in Washington this week to help negotiate a deal?" and "what are you specifically doing to prevent going over the so-called fiscal cliff?" As of 6 p.m. Action News has received no answers from these two Washington politicians.
Sen. Nelson says getting politicians back from break is only half the battle. "This thing could be solved in a New York minute if people would get out of their ideological boxes and get out of their excessive partisanship."
