Congressman Jim Gerlach Serving Pennsylvania’s Sixth Congressional District

Congressman Jim Gerlach (PA-6th District) voted in favor of legislation on Wednesday aimed at preventing widespread tax hikes that would cost taxpayers nearly $45 billion over the next decade.

Gerlach backed H.R. 5771, the proposed Tax Increase Prevention Act. It passed the House with bipartisan support by a 378-46 margin.

The bill, which now goes to the U.S. Senate for consideration, would extend through 2014 an array of tax provisions, including the federal conservation easement incentive, the research and development tax credit, section 179 business expensing credits and incentives for donating surplus food to charities.

Gerlach issued the following statement on the legislation:

"Unfortunately, the President has refused to take up this important opportunity to help fix our broken Tax Code with long-term reforms.He has defiantly turned his back on bipartisan efforts to make permanent incentives for conservation and farmland preservation, charitable donations of food and the hiring of workers and investment in businesses large and small. Despite my disappointment with the President's refusal to work with Congress on a more permanent measure, I supported this short-term patch. Our families, farmers, charitable organizations, restaurant owners and countless other employers do not deserve a tax hike. It's important to remember that the sole reason the House brought this legislation to the floor today is because the President threatened to veto a longer-term agreement reached between the House and Senate that would have provided greater certainty to all taxpayers.

"Understanding the need to stop tinkering with our Tax Code every year because of its detrimental effect on hiring and prosperity, I have worked across the aisle with lawmakers more interested in sound policy than petty partisanship to advance sensible solutions. This cooperation and good-faith negotiation has built a solid foundation for making permanent the federal conservation easement incentive, the Section 179 expensing provisions that allow businesses to buy new equipment, depreciation rules that local restaurants need to grow and an incentive for companies to donate surplus food supplies to help feed individuals and families who might otherwise go hungry. All of those items were extended for one-year in the legislation passed today. That's a positive step. And I'm hopeful that bipartisanship will prevail eventually and these provisions will have a place in a much-needed reform of our stale, overly complex Tax Code."

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