February 09,2007

Baucus Comments on House Tax Incentives Bill

Finance Chairman says House action will bring workers “one step closer” to minimum wage increase

Washington, DC – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) released the following statement today regarding new legislation in the House of Representatives that would provide small business tax incentives to accompany a minimum wage increase bill. Baucus led the Finance Committee in producing a package of small business incentives to gain passage of minimum wage legislation in the Senate. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to consider its own bill late on Monday, February 12.

“Chairman Rangel and I have always had the same goal of getting a wage increase on the ground for America’s workers, and we’re about to get one step closer. I’m disappointed to see several Senate provisions absent from the House bill, but now at least we’ve got a ball game. To me, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit was the bedrock of the Senate-passed tax bill, so I’m glad to see that help for hiring disadvantaged workers in the House bill as well. We also clearly agree that small business expensing is a worthy provision. As we work to hammer out the differences between these two bills, my task will remain the same: to get an agreement that can pass the Senate again, and get a pay increase to America’s minimum-wage workers. We need to buckle down now, and not waste any time getting the job finished.”

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