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Money, Insurance & Investments for Seniors
Estate Tax Reduction Dead for Now after Senate
Rejects Bill
GOP tried including it with minimum wage
increase to tempt Democrats
By
ElderLawAnswers.com
 August 4, 2006 - The U.S. Senate has rejected a
bill that combined a rise in the minimum wage with a reduction in the
estate tax. The reduction or elimination of the estate tax, a
long-cherished Republican goal, now appears to be a dead issue at least
until after the November election.
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The Republican-sponsored measure, which passed the
House, had been assailed by Democrats as a cynical election-year ploy to
take away a key Democratic campaign issue the minimum wage while
advancing a cut in the estate tax. Republican lawmakers fearful of
losing seats in November, had been looking for ways to pass the estate
tax bill before then.
The latest strategy married a tax exemption on the
first $5 million of an individual's estate and $10 million of a couple's
with a $2.10 increase in the minimum wage over three years. But for many
Senate Democrats, reports the
Boston Globe, "their desire for the first increase in nine years in
the $5.15 federal minimum wage was outweighed by their abhorrence of a
tax break for the rich they said could have cost the federal treasury
$753 billion over 10 years."
A vote to cut off debate and send the bill to a
floor vote passed by 56-42, short of the necessary 60 votes.
But Congress was able to come away from rancorous
spring and summer sessions with at least one legislative success. While
rejecting the estate tax-minimum wage bill, the Senate approved and sent
to the White House legislation to strengthen pension plans that cover 44
million people. Private pension plans are estimated to be underfunded by
more than $450 billion, while the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation, which insures pension plans, currently faces a
$22.8-billion deficit. The legislation, which passed the Senate 93-5,
"requires most companies to fully fund their pension liabilities within
seven years, in part by making an estimated 30,000 companies pay more
into their plans," reports the
Los Angeles Times, The bill will also permit companies to
automatically enroll employees in a 401(k) plan.
"This bill says to millions of Americans who fear
their pensions will disappear that help is on the way," said Senator
Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
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