This is truly vomit-inducing. Senator Landrieu (D-Louisiana) introduced an amendment to a tax cut bill, an provision to help Reserve and Guard troops who are activated for service overseas. Her modest $2 billion proposal was a small part, less that 2% of the cost of the JOBS bill, a $136 billion corporate tax-cut bill that passed the Senate unanimously.
The Landrieu Amendment would have offered small but important tax incentives to help businesses offer financial support to their employees who have been called to active duty and are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the Republican leadership in the House chose to cut her amendment from the tax-cut bill. Apparently "bow and arrow hunters" and "NASCAR" deserve tax breaks but businesses that support our troops do not. Corporate tax changes passed by House, sent to Senate
more below
Here's a press release from Senator Landrieu's Website. Note that since this was written, the Landrieu amendment was removed by Representative Thomas, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee before the Bill was passed today by the House.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10/5/04
Landrieu Fights for Tax Credit to Benefit Guard and Reserve Families
Landrieu Amendment Encourages Patriotic Employers To Fill Pay Gap
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) continued her fight to keep an amendment that would give tax relief to employers who continue to pay the salaries of deployed National Guard and Reserve members. The amendment was included in the Senate version of S. 1637, the JOBS bill, but no similar provision exists in the House bill, and it is in danger of being cut out in conference committee.
Sen. Landrieu and a bipartisan group of 20 other senators signed a letter urging House and Senate conference committee members to keep the provision in the legislation.
More than 410,000 members of the Guard and Reserve have been activated since Sept. 11, 2001. Today, more than 40 percent of U.S. troops serving in Iraq are reservists. Unfortunately, an estimated 41 percent of those citizen soldiers face a reduction in pay while they are activated. More than 4,723 Louisiana guardsmen and reservists are on active duty today. More than 13,300 Louisiana guardsmen and reservists have been activated since Sept. 11, 2001.
"These Guardsmen and Reservists have served their nation with valor and honor, but frequent and lengthy activations have exposed problems on the home front - specifically to the financial hardship too often created by activation," Sen. Landrieu said.
"Thousands of employers have patriotically made up this pay gap for our citizen soldiers, or even offered full salaries to their activated Guard and Reserve employees. However, most employers simply cannot afford to pay an employee serving overseas, especially in these tough times. Instead, our troops are forced to divert attention from their mission to whether the bills are being paid at home. Additionally, small businesses suffer losses in productivity when their employees are activated, and this amendment provides tax credits to help small business and manufacturers hire temporary workers."
The Landrieu amendment will provide a 50 percent tax credit to employers continuing to pay activated Guard and Reserve employees, with a cap of $30,000 ($15,000 credit) per employee. Provisions in the amendment include:
Covers salaries paid on days when the employee is activated for up to two years to cover the entirety of the deployment;
Rewards those employers already going above and beyond what the law mandates; encourages more employers to do so; and
Offers a $6,000 credit to help small business owners hire temporary workers to fill-in for activated employees and a $10,000 credit for small manufacturers to hire temporary workers.
"Not only do many reservists need help to make ends meet, but their employers need assistance as well. This measure would show that Congress values the thousands of activated Guard and Reserve troops and their employers who, together, make this nation stronger," Sen. Landrieu said.
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The Landrieu Amendment was really a small token to benefit soldiers and their families but the Republicans opposed it. This is a slap in the face to those who are risking their lives overseas.
This bill is up for a vote in the Senate on Saturday. Senator Landrieu will oppose this bill on the floor and she will cast her vote against it if her provision benefitting military families is not included. This is a politically risky move, because we all know the Repubs will later say she "voted to increase taxes!"
According to Sen. Landrieu, it would be very easy to put this provision back into the tax-cut bill. We can all put pressure on our Senators to make this happen.
Please call your Senators and ask them to support military families. Urge them to stand with Senator Landrieu and vote against this bill unless the Landrieu Amendment is added back in.
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p.s. I have a .pdf file of the letter signed by 20 other senators but I don't know how to post it to this site. Let me know if you'd like me to email the letter to you, so you can check to see if your Senator signed on.
One of my Senators, Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) did sign it but the other didn't, Gordon Smith (R-Oregon). I intend to call Senator Smith tomorrow morning.