Washington, DC – Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) today joined a majority in Congress in voting for $50 billion in middle-class tax relief, benefiting 59,000 residents in Marin and Sonoma Counties.  The legislation, H.R. 3996 the Temporary Tax Relief Act, would provide a one year fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax, ensuring that it doesn’t fall on millions of middle class families.

“In my district alone, H.R. 3996 will save over 59,000 taxpayers from being subject to the AMT, a tax that was never designed to affect them,” Woolsey said.  “It’s my hope that this will be a first step to a responsible solution to permanently fix this misguided tax policy.”

Originally designed to guarantee that millionaires could not avoid paying income tax, the AMT wasn’t written to adjust for annual inflation, an oversight which has eventually caused millions of middle-class families to be threatened by the tax every year.  This year alone 23 million middle-class Americans face the AMT.

“It’s clear that the AMT needs to be fixed,” Woolsey said.  “Year after year, we play this game of “chicken” with the end of the year, leaving millions of hard working American families fearful that they will be captured in a tax that was never meant to touch them.”

Beyond providing a temporary fix for the AMT the legislation also extends a variety of other popular provisions, including local and state deductions; tax deductions for school teachers who pay for classroom expenses; property tax relief for 30 million homeowners; and college tuition deductions for 4.5 million families.  In addition the legislation would extend the child tax credit, benefiting 12 million children.