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Senior Citizen Politics
20 Million Senior Citizens to Get Economic Stimulus
Checks in Plan Approved by Finance Committee
House plan excludes senior citizens with earned
income of less that $3,000
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 "The
House bill gives checks only to the more affluent seniors whose
incomes are high enough that they pay taxes now.
"The House-passed bill would not
give a stimulus check to seniors who were scraping by on Social
Security income alone and had no tax liability.
"But these 20 million seniors have
given a lifetime of labor. They have given a lifetime of service. They have paid a lifetime of taxes.
"But the House-passed bill would
not give them a stimulus check."
- Sen. Max Baucus, Chairman |
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Jan. 31, 2008 - By a vote of 14-7, the Senate
Finance Committee last night voted to deliver $500 tax rebates to more
than 20 million American senior citizens as part of an economic stimulus
plan authored Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). The Baucus legislation,
which is slated for immediate consideration by the full Senate, will
boost the American economy with $500 rebates for every American
reporting $3000 in wages, Social Security income, or net self-employment
income on a 2007 tax return.
That rebate will double for married taxpayers
filing jointly, and families will receive an additional $300 for every
qualifying child under age 17. Wednesday, Baucus added a measure to make the
same rebates available to disabled veterans who may not otherwise
qualify.
The Baucus legislation also extends Federal
unemployment insurance benefits for 13 weeks in all states through
December 2008, and provides for an additional 13 weeks of benefits in
states meeting certain criteria for high unemployment. Additional
business tax relief will allow companies losing money in the economic
downturn to access quick cash for payroll and expenses.
“America’s seniors have worked hard all their
lives, paid taxes all their lives, and they contribute to our economy
today. This package will put rebates into the hands of 20 million
additional American seniors, plus lower-income payroll taxpayers and
disabled veterans – all of whom will spend this money quickly and give
our economy the shot in the arm that it needs,” said Baucus.
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Related Stories |
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Senator Baucus Demands More Senior Citizens
be Included in Economic Stimulus Plan
House bill excludes many senior citizens from rebates
due to income limit that does not include Social Security benefit
Jan. 30, 2008 – By late today many senior citizens
should have a better idea if they will be included in the government’s
plan to stimulate the sinking economy by pouring billions of dollars
into the hands of consumers and businesses. The House passed their
version on Tuesday and the Senate Finance Committee is meeting on
Wednesday afternoon to consider the proposal by Chairman Max Baucus
(Democrat of Montana), which includes more senior citizens. Many seniors will not qualify for the House plan because they don’t have
enough income.
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“Extending unemployment insurance benefits will
help hurting families and get some cash into the economy even quicker.
I’ve worked hard with my colleagues to improve on the House stimulus
proposal and move a bill quickly. Congress should seize with both hands
this chance to make 20 million American seniors a part of our economic
stimulus efforts today, and get our country growing again.”
Baucus unveiled a Chairman’s Mark of The Economic
Stimulus Act of 2008 on Monday evening. Today, he brought a modified
version of the mark before the Committee for consideration. The
modifications to the mark are posted online at http://www.house.gov/jct/x-11-08.pdf.
They include:
• An upper income limit cap on eligibility for the
rebate. The rebate would be phased out at a rate of five percent of
adjusted gross income for single filers making more than $150,000
annually, and for married couples making more than $300,000 annually.
• Provision for rebates to disabled veterans who
receive at least $3000 in nontaxable disability compensation. Many
disabled vets would not receive a rebate if they have no obligation to
file a tax return. The Senate plan makes them eligible to receive the
same $500 rebate as wage earners and Social Security recipients. The
rebate will be distributed by the Veterans’ Administration.
• Safeguards to ensure that illegal immigrants will
not obtain rebates, with a requirement that all filers of returns have
valid Social Security numbers to qualify. Persons here illegally cannot
hold Social Security numbers and will not be able to access a rebate,
nor will they be able to claim child bonuses even if their children were
born in the United States and hold valid Social Security numbers
themselves. An ITIN (individual taxpayer identification number) will not
be sufficient to claim any rebate, even if the ITIN holder’s dependent
children hold valid Social Security numbers.
• Extensions of expiring renewable energy and
energy efficiency tax cuts, as described in the modified Chairman’s Mark
document.
• Modifications to criteria for high-unemployment
states eligible for second 13- week extension of unemployment insurance
benefits, requiring an average Total Unemployment Rate of 6.5 percent or
more for the previous three months.
Changes to the Chairman’s Mark caused adjustments
to Joint Committee on Taxation and Congressional Budget Office scores,
making the one-year cost estimate $157.2 billion.
A modified revenue table for the mark is posted at
http://www.house.gov/jct/x-12- 08.pdf.
Amendments by Senators Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), John
Kerry (D-Mass.), and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) were also added to the
legislation. Information on those amendments and their cost is available
from the Senators’ respective offices.
Original elements of the Baucus proposal as
follows:
INDIVIDUAL
REBATE:
Every single American with $3000 in qualifying
income who files a tax return in 2007 will receive a $500 stimulus
check. This amount will be doubled to $1000 total for married couples
filing jointly. A bonus of $300 will be provided to families for each
child under age 17 who qualifies under current child tax credit rules.
Differently from the House proposal
(H.R.5140), the
definition of qualifying income will include Social Security benefits
and net self-employment income as well as wages, allowing many more
Americans to get a check. Under the modification noted above, disabled
veterans with $3000 in non-taxable disability compensation are now
eligible for the rebate through the VA.
This rebate will be fully refundable for all
eligible Americans – meaning, they will receive the full rebate even if
their income tax liabilities do not equal or exceed the rebate amount.
This makes only minor modifications to the
House-Administration agreement on economic stimulus, but will add
millions of Americans – mostly retirees – to the eligible class of
rebate recipients. For instance:
1. A 70-year-old retiree receiving $800 per month
in Social Security retirement benefits would qualify because she has at
least $3000 in benefits.
2. A 42-year-old disabled person receiving $500 per
month in Social Security disability benefits would qualify because he
receives at least $3000 in SSDI.
3. A 68-year-old widow receiving $200 per month in
Social Security survivor benefits and $100 per month for part-time work
would qualify because her combined wages and Social Security benefits
are in excess of $3000.
The structure of the rebate is resistant to
fraudulent filing of 2007 returns. Both wages and Social Security
benefits are easily verified by the IRS through required copies of W-2
(wages) forms and/or the filer’s 1099 form from the Social Security
Administration.
BUSINESS
STIMULUS:
For companies losing money in this economic
downturn, the Chairman’s Mark extends a provision allowing corporations
to apply excess net operating losses to tax returns from prior
profitable years and receive any applicable refunds. For 2006 and 2007
losses, the “net operating loss (NOL) carryback” will be extended to
five years (back to 2002 and 2001) from the two years currently in law.
Measures to prevent companies from abusing the intent of the provision
were added at markup.
The Chairman’s Mark expands Section 179 expensing
of equipment for small businesses and bonus depreciation for business
property that is purchased and placed into service by large companies
during 2008, similar to the House-Administration proposal. Differently
from the House, the effective date for the Section 179 expensing
enhancement is Fiscal Year 2008. Companies eligible for the 50 percent
bonus depreciation for property purchased and placed into service this
year will receive 25 percent bonus depreciation in 2008, and 25 percent
in 2009.
UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE:
The Chairman’s Mark would make 13 weeks of
additional unemployment insurance (UI) benefits available to jobless
Americans through the end of December 2008. Americans in high
unemployment states – with average total unemployment rates of 6.5
percent or higher for the previous three months – would have 13
additional weeks of eligibility (for a total of 26 additional weeks).
Individuals who have begun to receive either 13-week extension of
benefits by the end of December 2008 would be eligible to receive
benefits for the remainder of those 13 weeks.
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