Hirono: Let’s stop wasting time and give our middle class families a tax cut

The following statement put out by the office of Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (D - Hawaii) pertains to the struggle on Capitol Hill to agree on a proposed extension of the U.S. payroll tax cut.

The House today passed its version of an extension of the payroll tax cut, which the U.S. Senate has said won’t pass its chamber and President Obama has vowed to veto.  While extending the payroll tax cut is vital for middle class Americans, this bill includes a number of poison pill provisions, like raising health care costs on middle-income families, cutting unemployment benefits and requiring a high school diploma to receive them, and bypassing President Obama’s review of a controversial oil pipeline.

“This bill is a cynical sleight of hand that gives with one, takes away with the other, and wastes time. Seven hundred thousand Hawaii workers received $500 million extra this past year because of the payroll tax cut, which has helped our families pay their mortgages, buy groceries, and give our nation’s businesses a boost. Keeping this tax cut and extending current unemployment benefits will help grow our economy and create jobs; coming together on these issues today would have been a huge accomplishment for this Congress,” said Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (HI-02).

“Instead, we got a bill that was dead on arrival in the Senate and was never on its way to the President’s desk. The House Majority knew the punitive provisions would not win significant bipartisan support, but they pushed it through anyway. My hope is that my colleagues from the House Majority will work with us to show some aloha to the millions of Americans this holiday season who rely on our ability to compromise. Our families deserve better.”

If not extended by December 31, 2011, the payroll tax that every employee pays on each paycheck will increase from 4.2%, to 6.2% on January 1, 2012. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released analysis in November indicating that extending this tax cut and unemployment benefits are two of the best policies for creating jobs and generating economic growth in 2012[1].

The bill is opposed by numerous groups, including AARP, the AFL-CIO, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), National Treasury Employees Union, Transport Workers Union, the Federation of American Hospitals, American Hospital Association, American Health Care Association, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, the Cancer Action Network, American Cancer Society, National Education Association (NEA), National Employment Law Project, and the League of Conservation Voters.

For more information from the Congressional Budget Office, click here