Marco Rubio is now a 'yes' vote on GOP tax plan - here's what changed his mind

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) who had earlier been holding out on the Republican tax reform bill, now says he will vote "yes" after the bill was changed to meet his demands over the child tax credit.

What did he want?

Rubio wanted to have the child tax credit provision in the tax bill to expand so that more families could claim the credit, and asked for a slightly higher corporate tax rate to pay for it. The plan would help mostly lower income families.

“I understand that this is a process of give and take, especially when there’s only a couple of us fighting for it, the leverage is lessened,” Rubio told reporters Thursday.

“But given all the other changes made in the tax code leading into it, I can’t in good conscience support it unless we are able to increase [the credit]," he explained, "and there’s ways to do it and we’ll be very reasonable about it.”

How was the bill changed to meet Rubio's approval?

Although he didn't get exactly what he wanted, the plan was changed enough to meet him in a compromise.

Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., a member of the House negotiating team, said that to satisfy Rubio the plan would now make $1,400 of the $2,000 child tax credit refundable instead of $1,100 in the original draft.

Rubio signaled his acceptance of the offer on his Twitter account.

Here's a Fox News report on Rubio's victory:

Rubio's acceptance significantly boosts the bill's chances of becoming law and giving President Trump a big legislative victory.