Roy Blunt: “I will be supporting the Republican bill that gives relief to American families today. Mr. Chairman, while I intend to…”

“I will be supporting the Republican bill that gives relief to American families today. Mr. Chairman, while I intend to support this tax relief bill today, I want the record to reflect my concern about two provisions of the bill that I strongly oppose. One is the limited renewal of employer provided continuing undergraduate education reimbursement. While the Senate tax bill extends the current law section 127 exemption permanently, the House bill extends sec. 127 until December 31, 1997. Nearly two-thirds of major employers in southwest Missouri offer this benefit, affecting over 60,000 workers in Springfield and Joplin alone. These employers include a chicken processor, a fan belt manufacturer, a paper goods processor, and a ball bearings producer. Without a long-term extension of section 127, many of these companies will discontinue this benefit, denying their employees the help they need to improve their skills. The second provision I oppose is the elimination of tax exempt treatment of tuition reduction provided to employees of educational institutions.”