The Trump administration visited key Orange County business executives last week to tout its tax reform plan.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and first daughter Ivanka Trump spoke before 65 people at the Newport Beach office of wealth manager David L. Bahnsen, who has been critical of the president.
Members of local business groups Lincoln Club and New Majority attended the meeting that began with a 45-minute reception followed by an hourlong panel.
Mary Ann Brown, chairperson of Pacific Life’s reinsurance unit, told the pair that lowered tax rates in the United Kingdom have created a boom in the country’s financial services industry.
“I am very much in favor of reducing corporate taxes,” Brown said. “They were both very gracious and listened to all the constituents on the panel.”
Mnuchin was in Southern California last week to promote the tax reform bill, which the administration wants to pass before the end of the year. Mnuchin, who was a successful banker, hedge fund owner and film producer before his current position, also spoke at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley and the Corona Chamber of Commerce, among other places.
High Demand Event
During the Newport Beach event, eight panelists each spoke for three minutes on their backgrounds and why tax reform is needed from their perspectives. Other panelists included Rick Muth, owner of one of Southern California’s largest concrete masonry makers, and Carolyn Cavecche, chief executive of Orange County Taxpayers Association and a former mayor of Orange.
“It was a high demand event,” said Bahnsen, owner of the Bahnsen Group that hosted the event. “A lot of people were upset they couldn’t get in.”
Mnuchin talked about the importance of tax reform as a key driver of the economy while Ivanka Trump discussed the child credit to help families who cannot afford day care.
They both knew well the controversy in California over the proposed elimination of certain tax deductions like mortgages over $500,000, said Loreen Gilbert, founder of Irvine-based Wealth Wise Financial Services and a member of the Trump Pence Small Business Advisory Council.
“He spoke about his experiences living in California with the high tax rates.” said panelist Gilbert, who’s also the National Chair Elect of the National Association of Women Business Owners Institute.
“He laughed and was jovial; it surprised me,” she said.
Gilbert told the pair that if tax reform passes, each small business owner in America may be encouraged to hire one person, which would create 30 million new jobs.
Tax Reform Cheerleaders
The panelists were asked a couple days beforehand to speak at the event. When the White House emailed Brown an invitation, she initially thought it was spam. Only a phone call convinced her it was bona fide.
Bahnsen, who is known for his conservative views and is a member of the Lincoln Club, said he was originally scheduled to appear as a panelist, but lost panel priviliges probably because he has sometimes criticized President Donald Trump. He said no questions from the audience were permitted of Mnuchin or Ivanka Trump.
“I was hoping for more back and forth” on the panel with the treasury secretary, Bahnsen said. “It was a bit of cheerleading.”
In Trouble?
Mnuchin’s comments at the panel made it clear that many people making more than $300,000 annually will see their taxes go up in states like California instead of a much touted tax cut, said Bahnsen, who is an expert on taxes.
“I think they’re in a lot of trouble,” Bahnsen said. “Conservative congressional representatives in Orange County are getting a lot of pushback.”
Mnuchin appeared confident that the bill will be approved this year, Gilbert said. Still, the business people at the event were urged to call their representatives to support the tax reform.
“Mnuchin and Ivanka sent a clear message that Orange County is important to them” to pass the bill, Gilbert said.
While Bahnsen likes certain parts of the bill, the prominent conservative still isn’t convinced of its passage. He said it’s a mistake to combine both personal and corporate tax reform in the same bill.
Hours after the Nov. 6 event, the event host posted a skeptical article on National Review, a magazine where he is on the board of trustees.
“My Meeting with Mnuchin and Ivanka Tells Me Tax Reform Is in Trouble,” said the headline over Bahnsen’s article.
