Max Baucus: “I rise today to support permanent repeal of the estate tax. Permanent repeal of the estate tax will help boost Montana's…”

“I rise today to support permanent repeal of the estate tax. Permanent repeal of the estate tax will help boost Montana's economy and will help boost America's economy, create jobs, and protect the heritage of our farmers and ranchers. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I was proud to help write last year's tax cut, which included a number of good changes to the estate tax, including increasing the unified tax credit and restructuring the rates. Now it is time to go further. As the law currently stands, the estate tax will be fully repealed in 2010. It will return to 2001 levels the next year, 2011. Let us use some common sense. Estate tax is a prime example of a tax that dampens efforts to create more jobs in Montana and across the country, and that is what this is all about, creating more jobs. My State is a small business State, an agricultural State, a State of family-owned farms and ranches, a place where main street businesses are still family owned. It is important to Montanans to be able to pass on their businesses, their farms, their ranches, to their sons and to their daughters. I support the Gramm-Kyl amendment to eliminate the sunset of the estate tax, to permanently repeal the estate tax, to free up money to help families, family-owned businesses, farms, and ranches. Permanent repeal of the estate tax will allow families to better plan particularly for the continuity of their estates.”