Washington, D.C. (May 18, 2000)—The Independent Community Bankers of America today is praising Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R–Texas) for his efforts in taking the lead to advance estate tax relief. Chairman Archer’s markup of estate tax relief legislation will help ensure the House can quickly pass this important legislation.

The ICBA has staunchly supported H.R. 8, the Dunn-Tanner relief plan, which would reduce the 55 percent estate tax rate to zero in increments of five percentage points a year. “With more than 235 bipartisan cosponsors to H.R. 8, the Death Tax Elimination Act should clearly be part of any tax relief Congress provides this year,” said ICBA Chief Economist Paul Merski. The ICBA has made the repeal of the estate tax a top tax legislative priority for the 106th Congress.

“The death tax punishes too many families, farmers, and small businesses at their time of greatest loss,” stated Merski. “The steep 55 percent top estate tax rate forces many families to liquidate and sell their small businesses or farms just to pay the tax collector—rather than passing those belongings on to their family—often wiping out a lifetime of hard work.”

John Evans, chairman of ICBA’s Tax Committee, said, “Family ownership has always been an integral part of community banking. The tradition of community service is ingrained over generations. Unfortunately, the estate tax threatens the continued viability of family-owned community banks and the local economies they support. We want to ensure that estate taxes can no longer lead to the demise of a small family-owned bank.” Evans is also president of D.L. Evans Bank in Burley, Idaho.

The ICBA will continue to work closely with all lawmakers to eliminate the onerous death tax.

ICBA is the primary voice for the nation’s community banks, representing 5,500 institutions at nearly 16,700 locations nationwide. Community banks are independently owned and operated and are characterized by attention to customer service, lower fees and small business, agricultural and consumer lending. ICBA's members hold more than $491 billion in insured deposits, $589 billion in assets and more than $344 billion in loans for consumers, small businesses and farms. They employ nearly 232,000 citizens in the communities they serve. For more information, visit www.icba.org.

###