STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
H.R. 3463 – Termination of Taxpayer Financing of Presidential Election Campaigns and Termination of the Election Assistance Commission
(Rep. Harper, R-Mississippi, and Rep. Cole, R-Oklahoma)
The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 3463, which would terminate taxpayer financing of Presidential election campaigns and would eliminate the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and transfer its responsibilities primarily to the Federal Election Commission.
H.R. 3463 would terminate the Nation's Presidential election public financing system, expanding the power of corporations and special interests in the Nation's elections. The bill would force many candidates into an endless cycle of fundraising at the expense of engagement with voters on the issues, and would place a premium on access to large donor or special interest support, narrowing the field of otherwise worthy candidates.
In addition, H.R. 3463 would terminate the EAC, which was established after the 2000 Presidential election to improve the administration of elections. The EAC continues to perform crucial statutory responsibilities by serving as a national clearing house of information for election officials and the public.
In addition, EAC continues to administer Federal grants to the States that support necessary investments in reliable voting and elections equipment, issues and periodically reviews Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, accredits voting system test labs, certifies voting equipment, establishes best practices and guidelines on election administration for State and local election officials, and aids implementation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and other Federal voting rights statutes.
The EAC has further demonstrated its value with accomplishments such as aiding in the implementation of access programs for disabled voters. As the only Federal entity charged principally with improving the administration of elections, the EAC helps to protect voters' rights and the integrity of elections and plays an important role as part of the Nation's election system infrastructure. These functions are too critical to put at risk by allowing them to be subsumed in an entity for which they are not the primary mission.
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
S. 1917 – Middle Class Tax Cut of 2011
The Administration strongly supports passage of S. 1917, which puts more money in the pockets of working and middle class Americans and provides tax cuts for small businesses to help them grow. The President proposed these measures to the Congress as part of the American Jobs Act as a way to create jobs and spur economic growth.
By extending and expanding the payroll tax cut in place this year, the bill would cut in half the amount of payroll tax paid by employees and the self-employed on their wages and salaries for 2012. Approximately 160 million workers would benefit from this tax cut, with the typical family earning $50,000 seeing more than $1,500 in additional take-home pay.
The bill would also cut in half the payroll tax paid by employers on the first $5 million of taxable payroll for 2012. This provision would benefit all businesses, but would target the benefit to the 98 percent of firms with payrolls below the $5 million payroll threshold.
The bill would also completely eliminate the payroll tax paid on added workers and on wage increases for current workers for the first $12.5 million of an employer's increased taxable payroll for the 4th quarter of 2011 and the first $50 million in increased payroll for 2012.
This provision, also targeted to small businesses, would encourage firms to hire additional employees and raise wages for their current employees.
Finally, the bill provides that these tax cuts would have no effect whatsoever on balances in the Social Security Trust Funds.
S. 1917 is fully paid for through a surtax on those Americans making over $1 million per year. What is most important is putting Americans back to work. S. 1917 would meet the test of paying for the extension and expansion of the payroll tax cuts in a way that is fair.
Independent economists have confirmed that these tax cuts for working families and small business entrepreneurs would add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the economy next year. By enacting S. 1917, the Congress and the President can work together to create jobs, and the Administration urges prompt and favorable action.
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
S. 1931 – Temporary Tax Holiday and Government Reduction Act
In the American Jobs Act, the President proposed to continue and expand the payroll tax cut in place this year to help provide relief to working families and boost the economy and proposed a payroll tax cut for America's small businesses to help them grow. Passage of S. 1917, the Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011, would enact these tax cuts into law and fully pay for them by asking the Nation's wealthiest to contribute a small percentage more.
The Administration recognizes that S. 1931 would at least continue this year's payroll tax cut. However, the Administration opposes S. 1931 because, by contrast to S. 1917, it provides one-third less tax relief for America's workers, does not help America's small businesses, and is paid for by unbalanced cuts that would break a bipartisan deal achieved in August and would undermine the Nation's ability to invest in areas that are key to America's future, to maintain core government functions, and to defend the United States.
If the Congress does nothing, the typical working family earning $50,000 will see its taxes go up by $1,000. Under the American Jobs Act and S. 1917, that family's tax cut would be increased from $1,000 to over $1,500. By contrast, S. 1931 does not expand the current payroll tax cut at all, thus providing one-third less tax relief to 160 million American workers.
In addition, S. 1917 offers relief to America's small businesses by cutting their payroll taxes in half and offering them a complete holiday for adding new payroll. S. 1931 offers none of this relief.
While S. 1917 proposes to fully pay for the tax cuts in a balanced and fair way by asking those earning over a million dollars a year to pay their fair share, S. 1931 would almost entirely pay for the payroll tax cuts by breaking the bipartisan deal achieved in the Budget Control Act.
It would add new cuts on top of the $1 trillion in reductions to defense and non-defense spending under the Budget Control Act and the additional $1.2 trillion in cuts that could automatically go into place because of the failure of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction.
The additional spending cuts under S. 1931 would mean further reductions in areas like education and energy, reducing core government functions ranging from services for this Nation's veterans to border security, and further cutting back spending on the Nation's defense.
The President is committed to providing tax relief to America's workers and small businesses next year and fully paying for this relief in a way that is fair. The Administration strongly supports S. 1917 and opposes S. 1931.
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