Washington, D.C.— Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, both R-Wyo., joined Senator John Thune, R-S.D. yesterday to re-introduce legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, better known as the death tax.
Enzi and Barrasso said the bill would permanently abolish the tax on family farms, ranches, and businesses. The senators believe a family’s assets, sometimes built up over generations, should be left in the hands of the family and will be put to better use there in the local community than shipped off to a wasteful Washington.
According to a study by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, repealing the death tax would create 1.5 million additional small business jobs and would shave almost a percentage point off the unemployment rate.
Thune and Brady are the main sponsors of the bill. At its introduction in the Senate, the bill had 25 cosponsors in addition to Enzi and Barrasso. Representative Kevin Brady, R-Texas, introduced the same legislation in the house.
The bill is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, Associated Builders and Contractors, National Association of Manufacturers, National Federation of Independent Business, 60 Plus Association, Americans for Tax Reform, Club for Growth, National Black Chamber of Commerce, International Franchise Association, National Taxpayers Union, American Conservative Union, Family Business Coalition, and many others.
