NTU urges all Senators to vote "NO" on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1586, the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act. The Reid-Murray Amendment would authorize $10 billion for an "education jobs fund" and $16.1 billion to extend Federal Medical Assistance Percentages funding.
The $10 billion slush fund to bail out states with budget shortfalls is being offered on top of the $100 billion in "stimulus" resources provided to education in 2009 – 33 percent of which has yet to be spent. Moreover, this amendment prohibits a Governor from "opting out" of the bailout fund. The Secretary of Education would instead be required to distribute the funds to another entity within the state. Most troubling is the amendment's "pay-for": a $9.6 billion permanent tax increase. Under no circumstance does this tax hike belong in discussions related to aviation reform, especially given that education and Medicaid are unrelated to the underlying bill. In order to best protect taxpayers, we urge you to support the following amendments:
- Vote YES on the DeMint Amendment to permanently extend current individual marginal income tax rates.
- Vote YES on the DeMint Amendment to permanently extend all of the current individual income tax rates for small business owners.
A "NO" vote on the Reid-Murray Amendment and "YES" votes on both DeMint Amendments will be significantly weighted in our annual Rating of Congress.
If you have any questions, please contact:
NTU Federal Government Affairs Manager Jordan Forbes at (703) 683-5700