Senate Fails to Pass Estate Tax Cuts
August 4, 2006
Thank you and congratulations!
Thanks to thousands of calls and grassroots activities in states, an attempt in the U.S. Senate to bring the Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act of 2006 (H.R. 5970) to a vote failed last night. The Senate voted 56-42 on a motion to proceed on the bill. They fell four votes short of the 60 votes needed to end debate on a bill.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) supported the package but switched his vote so that he could bring it up again in the fall. Thirty-eight Democrats, one Independent and three Republicans voted against the motion to proceed. The two other Republicans backing the filibuster were Senators Lincoln Chafee (RI) and George Voinovich (OH). The four Democrats who joined 52 Republicans in voting to limit debate were Senators Robert Byrd (WV), Bill Nelson (FL), Ben Nelson (NE), and Blanche Lincoln (AR).
NASW will alert you again if this bill is resurrected in the fall.
The Issue at Hand
H.R. 5970’s cuts to the estate tax would add $800 billion in deficits over ten years. These deficits would most likely be paid through cuts to important social and health programs such as health care, Head Start, and the Social Services Block Grants. No one needs and the nation cannot afford another massive tax give-away that would blow an $800 billion dollar hole in the budget that would benefit only the wealthiest 8,000 American families, giving them an average tax cut of $1.4 million.
Minimum wage workers need and deserve the modest minimum wage increase to $7.25 an hour to stay above the poverty line. However, the problem with the minimum wage component of H.R. 5970 is that it takes 3 years to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25/hour; whereas other minimum wage legislation before the Senate and supported by NASW would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25/hour over 2 years (S. 1062).
Additionally, the minimum wage provision in H.R. 5970 would have weakened existing minimum wage eligibility for people who receive tips (such as restaurant servers), overtime protections, or other labor laws.
Although NASW supports an increase in the minimum wage, we cannot support an increase that is tied to estate tax cuts.
|
About
NASW