WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Chairman Jim Saxton (R-NJ) and Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) will hold a press conference July 16th to discuss the controversy over the Treasury Department's methodology and income definition in distributional analysis. The press conference will be held at 2:15 p.m. in EF-100 in the Capitol.

      The Treasury's definition of income -- Family Economic Income -- grossly inflates the income of most taxpayers, giving the appearance that middle-class taxpayers are rich. FEI includes the imputed rental value of a taxpayer's home, fringe benefits including employer provided health insurance and pension contributions, and a number of other items.

      "By making middle-class taxpayers appear as upper-income taxpayers, the Treasury data convey a misleading impression that broad-based income-tax relief provides most of the benefits to upper-income taxpayers," Saxton said in a statement last month.

      At tomorrow's press conference Armey and Saxton will release a JEC paper on the Treasury Data as well as release a letter sent to President Clinton seeking full disclosure about Treasury's tax estimates.

Topic:		Treasury Data on FEI
Date:		Wednesday, July 16, 1997
Time:		2:15 p.m.
Place:		EF-100 (Capitol)

      For more information contact Mary Hewitt at the JEC (224-5171) or Michele Davis in the Majority Leader's Office (225-6007).

Press Release: #105-69

Return Home