Congressman Owens Announces Support for Tax Cut Compromise

Press Release

Last week, Congressman Bill Owens signed a letter (attached) to Democratic and Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives supporting a compromise in the recent debate over extending the Bush-era tax cuts for both middle class families and small businesses. Owens released the following statement regarding the tax cut compromise included in the attached letter:

"Even before I was sent to Congress, I advocated for extending tax cuts for the middle-class, hard working families of Upstate New York," Owens said. "I believe this proposal strikes a fair compromise to keeping taxes low for middle class families and small businesses in our community while not increasing the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars with tax cuts for millionaires our nation simply cannot afford. I have discussed this issue at length with constituents in Upstate communities across the district and I believe this strategy works for them as well as for our nation. We must work together, across party lines, to resolve the important issues facing the nation."

During his first year in office, Owens introduced legislation that would provide tax credits to companies that hire in rural areas, fought to repeal the burdensome 1099 reporting requirement for small business owners and worked to raise the estate tax exemption to $5 million per individual, $10 million per couple. The compromise focuses on keeping capital gains rates at a level where many economists believe they will stimulate investment in job growth.

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