Katrina Delays Republicans’ Tax Cut Vote
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 – Hurricane Katrina has forced a significant shift in priorities for Congress this fall. Senate consideration of Republican-sponsored tax cuts, including the permanent repeal of the estate tax, has been delayed as Congress concentrates on recovery and rebuilding in the wake of the devastating storm.
“The work that is being done on hurricane relief is going to delay any legislation that was scheduled for September, including appropriations and tax relief,” Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., said in a statement.
Sununu, a long-time supporter of repealing the estate tax, is an original co-sponsor of the “Jobs Protection and Estate Tax Reform Act of 2005,” which would permanently repeal the estate tax
The Bush tax cuts in 2001 included a gradual reduction of the estate tax on inherited assets and total elimination of the tax by 2010. To hold down the total amount of the 2001 tax-cut bill, however, Republicans agreed that the new rates on the tax would expire at the end of 2010 and would have to be reinstated in 2011.
The Senate intended to vote on permanent repeal of the tax as its first order of legislative business following its summer vacation. But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R- Tenn., delayed the vote indefinitely to allow the Senate to concentrate on legislation related to Hurricane Katrina.
“Hurricane Katrina is the top priority right now,” said Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., in a telephone interview. He noted that the House had voted in April to eliminate the estate tax.
The hurricane has changed congressional plans not only because of the needed legislation surrounding its aftermath but also because of the national attention it brought to thousands of poor residents on the Gulf Coast
“Obviously, the impact on the Gulf states has been enormous, and we have to do whatever we can to help the people of the Gulf States rebuild and reestablish their lives,” Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said in the Senate on Monday.
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