Copyright 2000 Star Tribune
Star Tribune
(Minneapolis, MN)
July 15, 2000, Saturday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Votes in Congress; Pg. 4A
LENGTH: 830 words
HEADLINE:
Estate-tax repeal bill clears Senate en route to a veto;
Clinton's opposition will be a theme of Republican election campaigns
SOURCE: News Services
DATELINE: Washington, D.C.
BODY:
The Senate sent President Clinton a bill
Friday that would phase out the federal tax on inheritances.
The 59-39 vote on a centerpiece of the
Republican agenda fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a
promised veto, and GOP leaders conceded that they are unlikely to muster enough
votes to do so.
But Republican leaders said they
would use Clinton's veto to support their case that tax cuts will not be
forthcoming until a Republican becomes president.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the presumptive GOP
presidential nominee, supports elimination of the estate tax. Vice President Al
Gore backs a reduction.
Republicans presented
the legislation, which would phase out the tax over the next decade, largely as
an effort to help families pass farms and small businesses from one generation
to another. Heirs sometimes are forced to sell part or all of an estate to pay
the Internal Revenue Service.
The bill's
supporters had in mind some of their wealthiest constituents as well as the
growing ranks of voters who have seen their net worth surge as the strong
economy drives up the value of their homes and their holdings of stock and other
investments.
But even under current law, the tax
is levied on only a tiny proportion of estates _ those worth more than
$675,000, or $1.3 million in the case of
family-owned farms and businesses.
The lower
figure will rise to $1 million by 2006. Only about 2 percent of
families of those who die pay the estate tax. In 1997, the latest year for which
figures were available, about 43,000 estates of 2.3 million were taxable.
Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., applauded
the vote on the $105 billion, 10-year phaseout. "There is no
defense for us taxing people at their death, for taking away the fruits of their
inheritance . . . or the fruits of their labors," he said.
But Clinton called it a "budget-busting bill"
that would use too much of the federal budget surplus primarily for the benefit
of the super-rich. "The Senate is wrong to pass this costly, irresponsible and
regressive bill," he said. "When this bill comes to my desk, I will veto it."
He offered to work with Congress on a less
costly alternative that would help family farms and small businesses. But Senate
leaders said that they want nothing less than to bury the "death tax,"
contending that Democrats are increasingly joining their crusade. Nine Democrats
voted with the Republican majority in supporting repeal; four Republicans voted
against.
The Democrats' alternative was rejected
53 to 46 Thursday on a largely party-line vote.
Republicans added to the estate-ax bill a series
of other tax cuts that would benefit farmers, high-tech firms, working seniors
and other groups. But in the end, GOP leaders dropped them to avoid sending the
bill to a House-Senate conference committee. An aide to Lott said that he
expects the other tax measures to be revived.
Immediately after approving the estate-tax
repeal, the Senate began considering another measure that Republicans
want to use in their campaigns. It would eliminate the "marriage penalty," which
forces many married couples to pay more income tax than they would if they filed
as single taxpayers.
Clinton has complained that
it would use up too much of the federal surplus and provide too large a share of
the tax cut to couples who do not suffer from the marriage penalty. But he has
offered to sign the measure if Republicans approve his Medicare prescription
drug plan. So far, GOP leaders have balked at a deal.
Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., appeared with other
Republicans at a Capitol news conference to promote their version of tax relief
for couples. "The average couples in the United States now pay an average
penalty of $1,500 a year _ because they choose to be married _
because of the tax codes," he said. "When they said 'I do,' I don't think they
intended to say 'I do want the tax man here, and I do want to pay more taxes.' "
Repealing the marriage
penalty under his plan would provide tax relief to more than 550,000 Minnesota
married couples, Grams said.
.
Compromise on land bill
A
compromise was reached on legislation to create a $3 billion
annual land-conservation trust fund, clearing the way for the bill's probable
approval by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee next week.
_ Washington bureau correspondent Kristin
Gustafson contributed to this report.
.
.
Votes in
Congress
Senate:
- A GOP bill to phase out the federal estate
tax over the next decade was approved, 59 to 39.
<PRE>.
Minn. Yes
No Yes
No
Grams,
R X Wellstone,
D X
.
N.D. Yes
No Yes
No
Conrad,
D X Dorgan,
D X
.
S.D. Yes
No Yes
No
Daschle,
D NV Johnson,
D X
.
Wis. Yes
No Yes
No
Feingold,
D X Kohl,
D X
</PRE>.
GRAPHIC: CHART
LOAD-DATE: July 17, 2000 
