Appropriations, Tax, and Energy Measures Enacted into Law
During the month of December, the House passed three significant bills: an omnibus appropriations measure (H.R. 2764); a bill intended to protect the middle-class from a tax increase (H.R. 3996); and an energy bill containing new fuel efficiency standards (H.R. 6). An explanation of each bill, as well as how Congressman Todd Platts voted, follows.
Omnibus appropriations. Congressman Platts voted against H.R. 2764, which nonetheless passed by an overall vote of 253-154 in the House and 76-17 in the Senate. The 3,500 page bill containing approximately 9,000 ‘earmarks’—special projects for particular Congressional Districts—was made available to rank-and-file Members less than 24 hours before the vote. In addition, a $474 billion domestic spending cap in the bill was circumvented by designating an extra $11 billion as “emergency spending,” and a policy rider was placed into the bill making it more difficult to continue construction of the fence along the southern border.
Finally, as originally presented to the House, the omnibus appropriations bill contained no funding for U.S. troops serving in Iraq. The request for funds for the troops had been originally submitted to Congress ten months earlier. Ultimately, on December 18, 2007, the Senate voted 70-25 to add these funds. The following day, Congressman Platts joined the full House in voting 272-142 to approve of this Senate amendment. The President signed the final version of H.R. 2764 into law on December 26, 2007.
Middle-class tax relief. Congressman Platts voted in favor of H.R. 3996, which passed by an overall vote of 352-64 in the House and 88-5 in the Senate. H.R. 3996 renews a temporary “patch” meant to protect middle-income families from having to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The AMT was originally enacted in 1969 as a way to ensure higher-income families pay a minimum amount in taxes, but inflation has eroded the value of the exemption from the tax. If Congress had not renewed the patch this year, the number of families having to pay the AMT would have jumped from around 4 million to over 25 million. The President signed the final version of H.R. 3996 into law on December 19, 2007.
A previous version of this legislation would have delayed the AMT tax hike for just one year while permanently increasing taxes elsewhere, to the tune of more than $70 billion over ten years. Congressman Platts opposed that previous version.
Energy bill. Congressman Platts voted in favor of the final version of H.R. 6, which passed by a vote of 314-100 in the House and 86-8 in the Senate. The centerpiece of H.R. 6 is the first increase in 30 years of fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks manufactured for sale within the United States, similar to a proposal introduced by Reps. Edward Markey and Todd Platts earlier this year. The President signed the measure into law on December 19, 2007.
“Fuel efficiency is an important national security issue,” Congressman Platts stated. “America imports more than 60% of its oil from foreign countries, including countries—such as Iran and Venezuela—that are hostile to our interests. The standards contained in H.R. 6 will reduce our need to import foreign oil by 1.1 million barrels of oil per day by 2020.” Congressman Platts also noted that the fuel efficiency standards in H.R. 6 will help save consumers money at the gasoline pump and reduce pollutants.
A previous version of this legislation also contained a tax increase of $21 billion over ten years. Congressman Platts opposed that bill.
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