By a party-line vote of 22-13, the House Ways and Means Committee voted yesterday to approve a $77 billion, PAYGO-compliant, one-year Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch, holding the number of taxpayers subject to AMT steady at four million and keeping nearly 20 million Americans from having to pay the AMT for the first time. Significantly, Congress' pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules survived several assaults by the Committee's GOP members, as the panel shot down a series of amendments to delete provisions of the bill to pay for the patch and instead approved the full complement of par-for provisions required under PAYGO, keeping the bill revenue neutral and honoring the fiscal responsibility rules that Congress imposed upon itself early this year. The largest of these pay-fors, the carried interest provision, would close a special tax loophole allowing private equity and other fund managers to claim all their income as capital gains, even if they haven't invested a penny in their funds. What comes next? House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said after the vote that the patch will come to a vote on the House floor next week. Passage is expected. Thereafter, the bill will be considered in the Senate, where the Democrats' bare 51-49 majority means that the GOP stands a good chance of filibustering the bill. But a pitched battle over PAYGO -- and carried interest -- could ensue. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) declared for the first time yesterday: I am not in favor of waiving PAYGO...I believe that we should pay for it. I think we made that as a standard. I think we cannot waver on that.