Dunn/Tanner Death Tax Bill
Introduced Today
Reps. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) and John
Tanner (D-TN) today held a press conference to introduce
The Death Tax Elimination Act, H.R. 8, that seeks to
phase out the estate (death) tax over a 10-year
period.
The death tax is the most onerous burden facing
family-owned construction companies, and the elimination
of the death tax is AGC’s number one legislative
priority for the 106th Congress. AGC strongly supports
the Dunn/Tanner bill to eliminate the death tax over a
10-year period.
Among AGC members, according to an AGC/Deloitte and
Touche survey, 94% are closely-held and 81% are owned by
fewer than four persons. In the capital-intensive
construction industry, even the smallest contractor has
lifetime capital assets, property and real estate over
$650,000, - the current estate tax credit amount. The
burden of the federal estate tax falls squarely on AGC’s
smallest family-owned construction firms.
When faced with the death tax (at a rate of 37% to
55% on top of income taxes paid on earnings, capital
gains, dividends and interest), many family-owned
construction companies must be sold, downsized or
liquidated ,just to pay the tax.
Please send your Member of Congress a letter urging
repeal of the death tax. Sample letters can be found on
AGC’s web page (www.agc.org >Members Only
Section>Legislative Area>Congress at Your
Fingertips>Write to Congress), or you may request
copies of the letters from Phil Thoden with the AGC
Congressional Relations Division at 202-383-2764.
Governors Pressure Congress to Keep the Promise of
TEA-21 and Spend Aviation Revenues for Aviation: The
nation’s governors called on Congress to keep the
promise of TEA-21 and provide the highway and transit
levels "guaranteed" in TEA-21. North Dakota Governor Ed
Schafer stated that this year, we have to remain
vigilant to make sure the President and Congress honor
the commitment of TEA-21. The governors, who were in
Washington this week for their annual meeting, also
urged Congress to provide the same guarantee to aviation
this year as Congress did for highways and transit last
year.
Bond Announces Clean Air Act Legislation: Senator
Kit Bond (R-MO) announced his intention to introduce
legislation repealing a provision in the Clean Air Act
that allows for the sanctioning highway funds. This
legislation is in response to a Sierra Club lawsuit
questioning EPA’s approval of Missouri’s state
implementation plan. "The Safety of our drivers should
not fall victim to a group’s political designs," Bond
stated. AGC strongly supports this legislation
protecting driver safety.
Governors Testify in Favor of State Revolving
Funds: During the National Governors Association
meeting this week, governors from three states testified
in favor of $2.4 billion annually for Clean Water Act
state revolving funds (SRFs). The Governors also
requested more flexibility in spending the money in the
SRFs to allow states to target clean water needs.
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