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Recovery Package Delivers $280 Billion |
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Tax Relief for Families and Businesses |
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Congresswoman Shelley
Berkley today (February 20, 2009) highlighted broad tax relief provisions
included in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The legislation,
which passed last week with Berkley’s support, expands tax cuts for more than
129 million working households nationwide. As a result of the Making Work
Pay tax credit, more than 950,000 Nevadans will see a tax savings of
up to $800 per couple.
Tax Cuts for
Individuals
· Making Work Pay Tax Credit. Provides
immediate and sustained tax relief to about 95 percent of workers and their
families through a refundable tax credit of $400 per worker and $800 per couple.
· Expanding Child Tax Credit. Cuts taxes
for the families of nearly 16 million children through an expansion of the child
tax credit.
· Expanding Earned Income Tax Credit.
Expands the Earned Income Tax Credit by providing tax relief to families with
three or more children and increasing marriage penalty relief.
· Creating A New, More Generous College Tax
Credit. Helps more than 4 million additional students attend college with a
new,$2,500 tax credit for families which is partially refundable.
· Protection from Alternative Minimum Tax.
Protects 26 million middle-class families from being hit by the alternative
minimum tax.
· Improving Tax Credit for First-Time
Homebuyers. Increases the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit from $7,500 to
$8,000 and removes the current repayment requirement.
· Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases.
Provides a tax deduction for state and local sales taxes paid on the purchase of
new cars, including light trucks and SUVs.
Tax Cuts for Businesses
· Bonus Depreciation. Helps businesses
quickly recover costs of new capital investments by extending the increased
bonus depreciation for businesses in new plants and equipment in 2009.
· Cancellation of Indebtedness. Provides
assistance to companies looking to reduce their debt burdens by delaying the tax
on businesses that have discharged indebtedness.
· Small Business Expensing. Extends
enhanced small business expensing, which doubles the amount small businesses can
immediately write off their taxes for capital investments and purchases of new
equipment made in 2009 from $125,000 to $250,000.
· Small Business Loss Carrybacks. Increases
cash flow by providing a 5-year carryback of net operating losses for small
businesses.
· Spurring Investments in Small Businesses.
Spurs investments in small businesses by cutting the capital gains tax on
investors in small businesses who buy stock (in the next two years) and hold it
for more than five years.
· 3% Government Withholding. Delays the
mandate that federal, state, and local governments withhold 3 percent of
payments to businesses for goods and services. This provision is supported by
the National Small Business Association.
· Jobs for Unemployed Veterans and Youth.
Provides businesses with a tax credit for hiring recently discharged, unemployed
veterans and youth who have been out of work and out of school for the 6 months
prior to hire.
Berkley Questions Uae Decision To Block Entry
For Israeli Tennis Player
Letter Urges Fair
Treatment for Athletes of All Peaceful Nations
Congresswoman Shelley
Berkley is questioning the recent decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to
deny entry to Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer. Officials from the UAE refused
to grant the women’s tennis player a visa for entry to compete in a professional
tournament being held in Dubai. After blocking Peer’s participation last week,
the UAE changed course and granted Israeli men’s tennis player Andy Ram entry in
order to compete in the Dubai tournament. Berkley is hopeful this decision
signals an end to UAE efforts to deny entry to athletes from Israel and other
peaceful nations. The following is the text of the Berkley letter, which was
co-signed by Congressman Eliot Engel of New York.
February 19, 2009
His Excellency Sheikh
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
President of the United
Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dear Mr. President:
The United Arab Emirates
and the United States have developed growing ties over the last several years,
as the UAE has become a significant economic driver in the Persian Gulf. The
UAE has grown and diversified its economy in the last 30 years, developing
stronger global ties and signing a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with
the United States in 2004.
It is with this
relationship in mind that we write to object to your government’s refusal to
grant a visa to Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer. While we share concerns
about security, it is unacceptable to refuse an athlete the access to play in a
tournament hosted by your country. Host governments such as the UAE must do
everything in their power to protect visitors, but denying them entry to the
country at all is unacceptable.
While we are pleased that
Andy Ram was ultimately allowed to enter the UAE, your government’s decision to
deny Ms. Peer entry undermines your nation’s standing and could harm U.S.-UAE
relations. As Congress considers the educational and energy partnerships
between our two countries, we hope you will not repeat this unfortunate
decision, and in the future will allow Israeli athletes – and those of other
peaceful nations – entry into your country without bias.
Thank you for your
attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Shelley Berkley
Member of Congress
Eliot Engel
Member of Congress
Yucca Mountain Budget
Slashed
Proposed Dump Sees Another
$100 Million Funding Cut – Vote This Week
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today (February 23, 2009) praised the inclusion of
a $100 million cut in the budget for the failed Yucca Mountain repository
project. The reduction in spending was included in the FY 2009 Omnibus
Appropriations Act, which is expected to be voted on this week in Congress. The
$288 million included in the latest legislation is down from the $386 million in
funding that went to the proposed dump outside Las Vegas under the last federal
spending bill approved.
“I am
thrilled that once again we are slashing the amount of radioactive pork that is
being spent on the failed Yucca Mountain Project. This $100 billion boondoggle
in the Nevada desert is a dinosaur whose days are numbered. America can safely
store nuclear waste at existing reactor sites for the next 100 years, which will
keep this toxic garbage out of the hands of terrorists and off our roads and
railways where it poses a danger to more than 50 million Americans. This
solution costs a fraction of Yucca Mountain’s $100 billion price tag and it does
not require the families of Las Vegas to sacrifice their health and safety in
order to protect nuclear industry profits,” said Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.
A vote
on the 2009 appropriations package is expected to take place in the House before
week’s end.
