U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) met with Tampa business leaders on Monday to discuss the Senate's version of the tax reform bill.
Both senators are high ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee and voted against the tax bill last week.
They met Monday with representatives of seven Tampa Bay area Chamber of Commerce's and local non-profit organizations.
Nelson said he believes the bill gives tax cuts to large corporations while ignoring the middle class and mom-and-pop business.
"Small businesses are the economic engine of Florida -- a lot of you of the Chambers of Commerce know that -- they get it in the neck," he said.
The removal of the health care coverage mandate in the tax bill is another reason Nelson said he voted against the plan.
A recent analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projected that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act individual mandate would result in the loss of insurance for 13 million Americans.
Both Nelson and Wyden made the case for a bipartisan bill that could be debt neutral by eliminating tax loopholes for corporations.
Nelson has vowed to fight the proposed tax reform bill when senators return for a full vote on the bill some time after the Thanksgiving holiday.
