|
 |
 |
|
Scott Brown, US Chamber continue push for 3 percent repeal
Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are pressing Senate Democrats to move quickly on a bill that would repeal a measure that requires governments to keep a share of certain payments to contractors.
Brown said Tuesday that passing a repeal of the 3 percent withholding provision would send a reassuring signal to voters amid partisan sniping over how to spark the economy.
“It will easily pass if my colleagues in the Senate avoid any tax increases or other partisan gimmicks,” Brown said. “My hope is that this 3 percent withholding will pass with flying colors, as it should, to show the American people that we can agree on something for jobs and job creation.”
Business groups have long called for repeal of the withholding rule, which would apply to federal, state and most local governments and affect Medicare and construction payments, among other things.
Congress approved the provision in 2006 as a way to help battle tax evasion among contractors. But the rule has been delayed a couple of times and has yet to go into effect, with the current start date scheduled for 2013.
While repeal also has support from lawmakers in both parties, Democrats and Republicans have sparred over how to make up for the roughly $11 billion in revenue over a decade that would not be collected if the provision is rolled back.
Brown, whose own proposal to eliminate the withholding rule did not clear a procedural vote last month, introduced repeal legislation on Monday that passed the House last week.
Under the House plan, a proposal to toughen eligibility requirements for Medicaid would be used to offset the 3 percent repeal.
The House passed the two measures separately last week, with the Medicaid proposal proving much more controversial. While only 16 Democrats voted against 3 percent repeal, the vast majority of the caucus — 157, in all — opposed the health bill.
For his part, Brown had previously called for making up for the lost revenue by rescinding unused discretionary funds.
But Democrats balked at that idea; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said last month that he would prefer to use a tax break for corporate jet owners and other revenue-raisers to pay for repeal. Reid has also said he wants further assurances that contractors are compliant on their taxes.
On Tuesday, the Chamber’s Giovanni Coratolo and small-business owners joined Brown to call on the Senate to push repeal “across the finish line.”
Coratolo, the Chamber’s vice president for small business policy, said that the 3 percent rule, if allowed to go live, could lead to making infrastructure improvements more costly and make life more challenging for doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Brown, meanwhile, said he hoped that taking aim at the 3 percent rule would be just one of several areas included in President Obama’s $447 billion jobs package where the two parties could find common ground.
Before the White House backed the House repeal measure, it had proposed delaying the 3 percent rule another year, to 2014.
The Senate has already blocked the president’s entire jobs package and a plank from the broader measure that would create or save police, firefighting and teaching jobs. Democrats proposed paying for both those bills with a surtax on millionaires.
Senate Democrats are currently pushing an infrastructure portion of the jobs bill. But Brown signaled Tuesday that there were other parts of the president’s plan that could get more bipartisan support, such as incentives for hiring veterans.
“We should get those things out the door right now,” Brown said.
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
