Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
January 9, 2003 -- Page: S154

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce a bill to provide permanent tax relief from one of the most egregious, anti-family aspects of the tax code, the marriage penalty. Relieving American taxpayers of this burden has been one of my highest priorities as a U.S. Senator.

Today, millions of couples across America are penalized by our tax code simply because they are married. The Treasury Department estimates that 48 percent of married couples pay this additional tax, and, according to a study by the Congressional Budget Office, the average penalty paid is $1,400 per couple.

Fortunately, the 107th Congress took a step in the right direction. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 will provide marriage penalty relief to millions of couples by increasing the size of the standard deduction and the width of the 15 percent tax bracket, so those applied to a married couple will be twice the size of those for an individual. In addition, the phase-out levels for the earned income tax credit will be adjusted so as to reduce the penalty on married couples.

But once again, we face the infamous "sunset provision'' that will wipe away these reforms in 2011. Another problem is that relief does not begin to be phased in until 2005, with the full impact not taking effect until 2009. President Bush has called for making marriage penalty relief effective immediately as part of his economic stimulus package.

I agree that this is an important step. Given the state of the economy and the difficulty many families are having in making ends meet, we cannot wait any longer to give young couples the break they deserve.

The bi-partisan bill I am offering with Senator BAYH and others would make the 2001 reforms effective immediately and permanently. People will no longer have to decide between love and money.

The benefits for couples are significant. A couple earning $30,000 could keep $800 they now pay in taxes, while a couple earning $80,000 could save more than $1,300. 35 million couples will benefit from enacting marriage penalty relief in 2003, including 2.4 million Texas families.

The tax code provides a significant disincentive for people to take marriage vows. Marriage is a fundamental institution in our society and should not be discouraged by the IRS. The benefits of marriage are well established. Children living in a married household are far less likely to live in poverty or to suffer from child abuse. Research indicates they are less likely to be depressed or have developmental problems. Scourges such as adolescent drug use are less common in married families, and married mothers are less likely to be victims of domestic violence.

At the very least, marriage should not be a taxable event.

I call on the Senate to finish the job we started and say "I do'' to providing permanent marriage penalty relief today.