U.S. Senate Reduces Tax Cut Extension to 60 Days

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill last week, extending the payroll tax cuts for a year only to see the Senate's revised version of the bill only extend the tax cuts for two months.

Steve Pearce

Congressman Steve Pearce had this to say about the Senate's version, "Washington must act to make sure that job creators are able to hire additional workers and Americans are able to put more money back in their pockets. The payroll tax cut extension works to do just that. Americans cannot afford for political games to tax them out of their hard earned money. Additionally, business owners, workers, and families deserve better than an environment of increased economic uncertainty, which the Senate bill will undoubtedly create. Washington must work to be more efficient and effective in reaching genuine solutions.

Jeff Bingaman

Senator Jeff Bingaman who voted for the Senate bill said, “I am disappointed that we were unable to come to an agreement to extend unemployment insurance, the payroll tax cut and Medicare reimbursements for full year. There are also various other tax provisions scheduled to expire in a few weeks, such as those related to renewable energy and efficiency, and in my view it is not responsible to let them expire,” Bingaman said.

Martin Heinrich, Ben Ray Lujan, and Tom Udall offered no comments on the Senate version of the bill. Neither Heinrich nor Lujan voted for the House version. The U.S. House of Representatives will be returning to the floor on Monday to continue seeking solutions and to continue working toward payroll tax cut extensions.

U.S. Senate Reduces Tax Cut Extension to 60 Days