Did you miss this week's issue of NTUF's Taxpayer's Tab? If so, here's a quick recap.
This Week's Wildcard: Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA) has introduced The Entrepreneur Startup Growth Act, H.R. 3571, to establish a grant program to provide tax preparation assistance to individuals who are self-employed. To qualify for assistance, individuals must have made $50,000 or less in the previous year. In addition to spending tax dollars to teach people how to file their taxes, the bill calls for greater business development assistance. Grants would be awarded to community lending institutions including microlenders, higher-education groups, and local governments.
The Most Expensive Bill of the Week: Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) has sponsored the Foreign Relations Authorization Act to reauthorize the international programs of the federal government. The bill would also modify or expand a number of additional existing international efforts including the Intellectual Property Attaché Program and the Peace Corps.
The Least Expensive Bill of the Week: Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) has introduced S. 1931 to extend the temporary payroll tax cut for an additional year. The bill would offset the lost payroll tax revenue, in part, by limiting unemployment compensation for higher income individuals. Certain Medicare premium payments would be increased for individuals making $750,000 or more per year. S. 1931 would also extend a pay freeze for government employees until 2015, and the federal workforce would be reduced through attrition.
The Most Friended Bill: Sponsored by Congressman John Mica (R-FL), H.R. 3538 would require the National Mediation Board to use the same standards to decertify a labor organization as it uses for labor elections. The new responsibility would be a procedural regulation for the Board to follow and so would not result in new spending. It is unclear how the streamlined process would affect the functions of the Board or how labor organizations would be affected by the bill. All 160 cosponsors are members of the Republican Party.
For more details, including NTUF's preliminary cost estimates for each of these bills, read the entire Taxpayer's Tab online.
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That was the last recap of the Taxpayer's Tab in 2011. We will be back in the New Year with new articles and cost estimates!