CONGRESS PASSES MASSIVE TAX CUTS Estate Tax Repeal Included, Veto Likely On August 5, the Republican-controlled Congress approved an enormous 10-year, $792 billion tax package that includes AIADA-supported elimination of the estate tax. In addition, the bill would cut all income tax rates by one percent, phase-out the marriage tax penalty and reduce the individual capital gains tax rate. Despite repeated veto threats by President Clinton, the GOP easily pushed the bill through the House with a vote of 221-206. The vote was much closer in the Senate, where the bill eked by 50-49 following the defections of four moderate Republicans. Congress has now adjourned for its annual August recess and will wait until after it reconvenes September 8 to submit the tax bill to President Clinton. A veto is expected, since the president has indicated he will not sign a tax cut bill larger than $300 billion. With that in mind, GOP leaders hope to use the August recess to sell their tax cut ideas to the American public, placing political pressure on the president to compromise on a significant tax cut bill this fall. AIADA has vigorously lobbied for elimination of the estate (or death) tax. With rates as high as 55 percent, the tax hits family-owned dealerships hard. Under the tax bill passed by Congress, the estate tax will begin phasing out in 2001, with final repeal in 2009. The provision to repeal the estate tax closely mirrored the House version of the tax bill, which AIADA strongly supported. The Senate version would have provided only minor estate tax relief. "We are encouraged that this bill calls for elimination of the estate tax, which remains one of our top priorities in the 106th Congress," said AIADA President Walter E. Huizenga. Dealers directly lobbied Congress on the estate tax issue during AIADA's Automotive Congress in May, and again during the Fourth of July holiday following an urgent AIADA legislative bulletin that called for grassroots action. The association has also sought repeal of the estate tax as a member of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition. "Our thanks to those dealers who have worked to ensure Congress knows where we stand on this issue: The estate tax is a death sentence for family-owned automobile dealerships and it must go," said Huizenga. For more information on the estate tax or any legislative issue, call AIADA's government relations office at 1-800-GO-AIADA.

AUGUST 1999 All the latest news and information for and about the international automobile industry in America. Get in Touch With Your Members of Congress during the August Congressional Recess! For tips on how to maximize opportunities in your home district, see pg. 2. AIADA 99 Canal Center Plaza Suite 500 Alexandria, VA 22314 703-519-7800 703-519-7810 FAX GOAIADA@aiada.org

The 106th Congress reconvenes in Washington on September 8 so schedule your meetings soon!

"Through July 1999, four of the top five selling vehicles in the United States were pickup trucks. Yet, 63 percent of our members do not have a pickup truck to sell, and none of them have an imported pickup to sell," said AIADA President Walter E. Huizenga. There are currently no pickup trucks being imported to the United States.

"Whether or not an automaker chooses to import or build here should be a business decision based on consumer demands, not based on a punitive tariff," said AIADA Chairman and multi-line dealer Joe O'Brien, Jr. of Peoria, Ill.

AIADA is working to have the chicken tax added to the list of items to be addressed at the meeting, which marks the next round of discussions of the World Trade Organization. Trade experts have indicated that a multi-lateral trade forum is the best forum to resolve the chicken tax issue.