ACCA Urges President to Bury "Death Tax"

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressional leaders sent the estate tax repeal bill to the President today for his signature. In anticipation of his intent to veto the legislation, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) sent President Clinton a letter urging him to reconsider his decision and end the estate and gift tax which has unfairly burdened small business and farmers for many years.

In the letter, ACCA President Anthony Shaker, wrote: "As the vast majority of our members are family-owned and operated businesses, our membership is disproportionately impacted by the inefficient and destructive estate tax regime. Eliminating the estate tax will dramatically reduce the time, money and energy spent on estate planning, thereby freeing up scarce resources and allowing business owners to concentrate on growing their businesses, and thus creating more jobs."

President Clinton’s argument is the legislation repealing the death tax is a "budget busting bill that provides a huge tax cut for the most well-off Americans at the expense of working families." Shaker, President and CEO, of BALCO, Inc., Boston, MA counters, "…it is important to note that, on average, 46 workers lose their jobs every time a family-owned business is forced to shut its doors."

He further explains that it is estimated that 90% of family businesses that fail following the death of the founder do so because of the punitive estate tax burden on surviving family members.

ACCA is the nation’s largest organization of HVACR contracting firms that design, install, service and repair heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment for residential commercial and industrial customers, with a network of approximately 9,000 local, state and national members. The non-partisan trade association has 64 chapters throughout the United States.