Hatch Blasts Latest Administration Proposal to More Than Double Unemployment Taxes

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement today after numerous press reports have revealed that the Obama Administration is considering doubling taxes on unemployment benefits thereby threatening employed American workers and employers:

“I hope what I’m reading in the press turns out not to be true.  While we don’t have the details, but based on what I’ve read, I strongly urge the White House to reconsider this job-destroying proposal.  In the stimulus and the $2.6 trillion health law, the Administration dramatically expanded federal benefits to the point that neither states nor the federal government can afford them.  This tax increase out of the White House builds on the flawed assumption that government knows best.  In fact, the administration’s so-called cure to our high unemployment rate could actually make things worse. By more than doubling unemployment taxes from $7,000 to $15,000, either employers will have less money to hire or workers will face reduced wages.  Neither makes any sense and runs counter to our shared goal of getting the American people back to work.  If the Administration is serious about getting our economy back on track then they need to take this latest tax hike off the table.”

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