Senator Collins' Statement on the Tax Extenders Legislation

Statement

SENATOR COLLINS' STATEMENT ON THE TAX EXTENDERS LEGISLATION

The U.S. Senate has voted against proceeding to a House bill that would extend a number of expiring tax provisions. Senator Collins voted in support of the motion to proceed and released this statement:

"Fixing the Alternative Minimum Tax must be a priority. If not changed, the AMT will force millions of hard-working middle-income families to pay higher taxes this year. The AMT threatens to sweep 25 million taxpayers under its purview—including 85,000 in Maine—forcing them to pay higher taxes. Last week, I voted against the motion to proceed because the House-passed bill did not include any provisions to fix the AMT.

"Two days after that vote, however, Senator Baucus introduced tax legislation that does include AMT relief and made clear that he would offer his bill as a substitute for the flawed House-passed bill. So that his bill and an alternative offered by Senator Grassley may be considered, I voted for the motion to proceed.

"I continue to believe that Senator Grassley's alternative bill is preferable. It not only extends the expiring energy tax credits and includes an AMT fix, but also provides a new tax credit for clean-burning wood and wood pellet stoves that I have advocated. His version also does not include the $1.6 billion tax break for trial attorneys and a $1.1 billion tax earmark for New York City, provisions that I strongly oppose in the House bill and the Baucus substitute.

"I continue to hope that the supporters of the competing tax proposals will reach a bipartisan compromise that would extend expiring energy tax credits for consumers and businesses as well as the Research and Development tax credit and the Teachers' Tax Deduction, which I authored. But as the number of legislative days this year begin to dwindle, it is important that we address the AMT and the expiring tax provisions as quickly as possible.

"Both Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus have authored legislation with worthwhile provisions. I hope that Senate leaders will continue to work toward a compromise that includes the best provisions from each bill."

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