Rep. Ellison Statement on Tax Extenders

WASHINGTON—Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement today after voting against a bill to extend tax provisions that expired in 2013 and 2014 until December 31st, 2014.

“The bill passed today does little for working families, but lots for corporations already booking big profits. Too many Americans are working in jobs that don’t sustain their families. Nearly 75% of the tax breaks in the package will make their struggle to attain the American Dream even tougher.

“The bill is full of deficit-financed corporate giveaways that won’t stimulate the economy or help working Americans. The bill retroactively restores the bonus depreciation tax break, which doesn’t increase economic growth because it helps companies pay for equipment they’ve already purchased. It also costs $1.49 billion. The active financing exemption allows companies to keep a huge amount of profits overseas and costs $5 billion.  The bill also provides tax breaks for motorsports tracks such as NASCAR ($33 million) and racehorses ($45 million).

“If I could vote to support provisions in the bill that help low-income families and their communities, I would. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit creates 100,000 affordable housing units each year. The exclusion for mortgage debt forgiveness helps families selling underwater homes avoid a huge tax bill if the bank forgives the difference between their selling price and their original purchase price. The New Market Tax Credit encourages investments in low-income communities around the country.  

“But the bad clearly outweighs the good in this bill. It also doesn’t raise any revenue to fill the hole left by corporate tax breaks, which means Republicans will say we can’t afford to renew unemployment insurance, expand Head Start or invest to rebuild our roads, schools and bridges.

“Today’s package gives away too much to big business, while doing little to help working families make ends meet.”