Jon Kyl: “please understand that one of the things my friend from Montana said is not correct. We are not taking away the $5,000…”

“please understand that one of the things my friend from Montana said is not correct. We are not taking away the $5,000 benefit that exists for everybody who provides for tuition to be tax free. That remains. We are not touching that. All we are saying is that it ought to be the same for the son or daughter of a college professor as the son or daughter of the manager of the pizza shop. The only one who gets the tuition tax break that is tax free is the son or daughter of the college professor. But if you work for a small business and your boss decides to send your child to school, pay the tuition for that child, you could still get that tuition, but you have to pay the tax consequences of that; that is a taxable benefit. There should be no differentiation between working for a small business or a big business, for that matter, or being the son or daughter of a college professor. That is what the bipartisan Joint Tax Committee said. This is totally unfair. It is part of the closing of the tax gap because of the unfairness between one small group of our society and everybody else. All this does is equalize the tax treatment of the employer providing the tuition free for the student. That pays for what everyone recognizes is a very important extension of the small business provisions of the Finance Committee from March 31 of next year through December 31 of next year. I urge Members to vote against the motion to table the amendment.”