I want to provide you with a brief update on repeal of the Estate Tax. It appears House action on legislation to extend the Bush tax cuts has been moved up and will now take place this afternoon. Legislation that sets the parameters for fundamental tax reform will be voted on tomorrow.

The rule approved last night by the House Rules Committee determines the following:
The bill that will come up today is H.R. 8, the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act, introduced by Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.). H.R. 8 would extend the Bush Tax cuts for one year. Under the bill, the estate tax exemption would remain at $5 million per person, indexed for inflation. The top rate would be 35 percent, and the spousal transfer would continue. As you know MRAA supports repeal of the Estate Tax and maintenance of the Bush Tax cuts.

A Democratic substitute bill was offered at Rules by Rep. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). The Levin alternative is the same bill passed by the Senate last week that only extended lower taxes for couples making less than $250,000 and for individuals making less than $200,000. The Levin Bill is silent on estate taxes, which means the exemption would shrink to $1 million on January 1 and the top tax rate would rise to 55 percent.

In a statement of administrative policy issued on July 31, the Obama Administration opposed the passage of H.R. 8.

Tomorrow the House will consider H.R. 6169, the Pathway to Job Creation through a Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act, which will set a timeline for action on fundamental tax reform in 2013. Legislation would be introduced in April with House floor action in June. A democratic substitute will outline Democratic principles of tax reform.

Larry Innis
MRAA Legislative Affairs

MINNEAPOLIS — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas thanks the 245 Members of the House of Representatives who stood for small businesses everywhere by passing H.R. 4078, a comprehensive regulatory reform bill that streamlines the time consuming rulemaking and permitting process, brings transparency to rules issued by federal agencies, and prohibits agencies from issuing a cascade of regulations when a change in administrations occurs.

The bill would also create a process to give the public the meaningful voice it is supposed to have in the rulemaking process. Thirteen Democrats joined House Republicans in supporting H.R. 4078 in the July 26 floor vote.

“We applaud House Members for passing this important legislation, which is a first step on our road to making government more transparent and to simplifying the rulemaking system that has been growing at a rapid rate for many years,” says Dave Foulkrod, MRAA Chairman. “MRAA now urges the Senate to swiftly follow the House leadership on this bill. Passage of regulatory reform legislation to reduce the cost of complying to federal laws is a key goal for MRAA’s legislative agenda.”

H.R. 4078 is the first attempt by Congress to pass regulatory reform to reduce the crushing burden on businesses and promote a positive policy to help jumpstart our economy since the 1980s.

Congress is busy looking at repeal of the Estate (Death) Tax.

Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) is taking the lead in the House of Representatives and issued a press release on July 26 to release a study by the Joint Economic Committee Republican staff called “Estate Tax Fails on All Fronts.”

The Estate Tax threshold of $5 million and a reduced tax rate from 55 percent to 35 percent is part of the Bush Tax Cuts. However, Congress is looking at some very political legislation prior to the November elections. Most D.C. insiders believe Congress will more seriously look at all the Bush Tax Cuts in a Lame Duck session after the elections.

MRAA has long worked to permanently and totally repeal the Estate Tax, which places an unfair tax on the estates of small business and farm owners and oftentimes causes the property to be sold to pay the tax. Most recently, MRAA signed onto to a letter with other national trade associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expressing its support of the Brady Bill (H.R. 1259) and Estate Tax repeal.

The Brady Bill has 218 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. On July 26, Congressman Brady also hosted a special call-in press conference on repeal of the Estate Tax. MRAA attended the press conference. Senator John Thune (R- SD), who introduced a companion bill to H.R. 1259 in the Senate (S. 2242) with 37 co-sponsors, also attended the press conference.

New Study: “Cost & Consequences of the Federal Estate Tax”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Kevin Brady, the author of the House bill to End the Death Tax Permanently, is releasing a major study Wednesday morning from the Joint Economic Committee Republicans that proves the Death tax is harmful and ineffective taxation that hinders entrepreneurship, hurts future revenues, and robs capital out of the free market.

Since its creation in 1916, the federal estate tax has robbed as much capital stock from the American economy ($1.1 trillion) as it has generated in federal revenue ($1.2 trillion), which doesn’t even capture the punitive compliance burden. The Death Tax not only fails to decrease inequality, it perversely creates a barrier to upward mobility for family-owned small businesses, farms and ranches.  

What: Telephone News Conference
Who: Texas Congressman Kevin Brady will be joined by Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the author of the Senate bill to permanently end the Death Tax, House co-sponsor Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA), middle class farmers, ranchers and small business people affected by the Death Tax
When: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 @ 10:30am ET
Call-in Number: 800-857-7944 (Password: Texas)

Congressman Kevin Brady is the top Republican on the Joint Economic Committee and a senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee. Sen. Thune is the Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and a member of the Senate Finance Committee.

If the U.S. Federal Reserve follows the lead of the Bank of England, it could help small business get loans from participating banks. Under such a program, the Federal Reserve would give banks very low interest rates on loans to small businesses and home mortgages. This could have a significant impact on marine retailers as availability of funds has been an issue since the financial crisis in 2008.

Click here to read about speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may announce the adoption of a similar program during next week’s monetary policy report to Congress.