October 29,1999

Senate Unanimously Approves S. 1792

WASHINGTON -- The Senate today approved, by unanimous consent, Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr.'s (R-DE) bill, S. 1792, the Tax Relief and Extension Act of 1999. This bipartisan bill, which was approved by the Finance Committee on October 20, 1999, provides for the extension of expiring and expired tax provisions.

"The unanimous support for this bill emphas the importance and urgency in addressing these expiring provisions. I am hopeful we will have a quick conference with the House to address the differences between our two bills," stated Chairman Roth. "I appreciate the hard work and cooperation of Senator Moynihan in assembling and shepherding through our consensus bill."

The Tax Relief Extension Act of 1999 includes Research and Experimentation tax credit extension, Alternative Minimum Tax ("AMT") relief, tax-free treatment of employer-provided educational assistance, work opportunity tax credit, welfare-to-work tax credit and extension of tax credit for electricity produced from wind and closed-loop biomass, an increase in the amount of rum excise tax that is covered over to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other expiring provisions. The bill provides for extension of provisions through December 31, 2000.