Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
June 5, 2003 -- Page: S7488

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.

Last week President Bush signed into law a $350 billion jobs and economic growth package to put Americans back to work and stimulate the economy. The bill provides immediate marriage penalty relief by enlarging the standard deduction and the 15 percent tax bracket for married couples filing jointly to twice that as for single filers. This provision will save 34 million married couples an average of $589 this year alone.

Enacting marriage penalty relief is a giant step for tax fairness, but it may be fleeting. The Jobs and Growth Act was just signed, but even as the ink dries a tax increase on married couples looms in the near future. Since the bill was restricted by artificial limitations to $350 billion, the marriage penalty provisions will only be in effect for two years. In 2005, marriage will again be a taxable event for millions of Americans. Similar restrictions were placed on the 2001 tax cut, so, while relief will be phased in by 2009, it will disappear for good in 2011 unless we act decisively.

Millions of couples across America will be penalized once more by our tax code simply because they are married. Without marriage penalty relief, 48 percent of married couples will again pay the government an average $1,400 more in taxes.

Given the state of the economy and the difficulty many families face in making ends meet, we must make sure we do not backtrack on this important reform.

Without marriage penalty relief, the tax code provides a significant disincentive for people to walk down the aisle, and the benefits of marriage are well established. Marriage is a fundamental institution in our society and should not be discouraged by the IRS. 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.

The bill I am offering would make the marriage penalty relief in the Jobs and Growth Act permanent. It also will accelerate changes to the earned income tax credit that were passed in the 2001 tax reform bill. This will reduce the marriage penalty on lower income couples.

We cannot be satisfied until couples never again must decide between love and money. 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.