THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015

Daily Leader

For Immediate Release:

2015-04-16T00:00:00

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House Meets At:	First Vote Predicted:	Last Vote Predicted:
9:00 a.m.: Legislative Business Five “One Minutes”	11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.	12:00 – 12:30 p.m.

Complete Consideration of H.R. 1105 – Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015 (Rep. Brady (TX) – Ways and Means) (One Hour of Debate). This bill would repeal the estate tax entirely. The current estate tax was set in 2013’s Fiscal Cliff agreement based on a Republican proposal exempting estates under $5 million for individuals and $10 million for couples. Those exemption amounts were adjusted for inflation, such that the 2015 exemption currently stands at $5.4 million for individuals and $10.9 million for couples. According to the JCT, approximately 0.2% of families in the United States will see any benefit whatsoever from this legislation.

Even so, the JCT estimates that this permanent repeal of the estate tax will add $269 billion to the deficit over 10 years, and Republicans have chosen to bring the bill to the Floor without providing an offset.

The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for a closed Rule and one hour of debate. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for H.R. 1105:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 1105:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Complete Consideration of H.R. 622 – State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 2015 (Rep. Brady (TX) – Ways and Means) (One Hour of Debate). This bill would make permanent, without offset, the current tax extender giving individual taxpayers an option to deduct state and local sales taxes (rather than state and local income taxes) when calculating their taxable income. This predominantly benefits taxpayers in the 7 states with no income tax (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming) and 2 states with only an investment income tax (Tennessee, New Hampshire).

The JCT estimates that this permanent tax cut will add $42 billion to the deficit over 10 years, and Republicans have chosen to bring the bill to the Floor without providing an offset.

These permanent tax cuts come on the heels of several other permanent tax extenders bills that Republicans brought to the Floor without offsets this year and last Congress. The choice made by House Republicans to address these provisions one by one, while adding their cost to the deficit, represents an irresponsible approach that will only make reaching comprehensive tax reform and fixing our broken tax system harder.

Ways & Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has said that, “The people deserve a government that works for them, not one that buries them in more debt.” Unfortunately, bringing permanent, unpaid-for tax cuts to the Floor does exactly the opposite. The White House agrees and has issued a SAP stating that the President’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto both bills. If House Republicans are serious about fiscal responsibility, they should work with Democrats to make the tough decisions necessary to address our broken tax code through comprehensive tax reform, which would address these and other tax provisions in a way that does not add to deficits and does not limit our ability to invest in domestic discretionary priorities.

The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for a closed Rule and one hour of debate. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for H.R. 622:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 622:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

The Daily Quote
“What is the Republican-led House poised to do Thursday to help the estimated 150 million American taxpayers who struggled with the nation's absurdly complicated tax code to file their returns by Wednesday's deadline? Vote to repeal the estate tax, which affects an estimated 5,400 well-off Americans every year. We say "well off" because you need to leave your heirs at least $5.4 million ($10.8 million for a couple) to have to pay any federal estate taxes at all. Of the nearly 3 million Americans who die every year, only about two-tenths of 1% have enough assets to qualify. It's a rather exclusive group. This isn't to disparage people who worked hard enough (or, in some cases, were lucky enough) to have estates that big. It's just that, at a time when income inequality is one of the nation's most vexing problems, the 0.2% hardly need extra help from Congress… Repealing the estate tax would mean that other, far less affluent taxpayers would have to take up the slack. And that's unfair, no matter how you look at it.” - USA Today Editorial Board, 4/16/2015

The Daily Quote

“What is the Republican-led House poised to do Thursday to help the estimated 150 million American taxpayers who struggled with the nation's absurdly complicated tax code to file their returns by Wednesday's deadline? Vote to repeal the estate tax, which affects an estimated 5,400 well-off Americans every year. We say "well off" because you need to leave your heirs at least $5.4 million ($10.8 million for a couple) to have to pay any federal estate taxes at all. Of the nearly 3 million Americans who die every year, only about two-tenths of 1% have enough assets to qualify. It's a rather exclusive group. This isn't to disparage people who worked hard enough (or, in some cases, were lucky enough) to have estates that big. It's just that, at a time when income inequality is one of the nation's most vexing problems, the 0.2% hardly need extra help from Congress… Repealing the estate tax would mean that other, far less affluent taxpayers would have to take up the slack. And that's unfair, no matter how you look at it.”

- USA Today Editorial Board, 4/16/2015