Don Nickles: “tonight I offer an amendment on behalf of myself, Senator Hagel, Senator Cleland, and Senator Domenici which would…”

“tonight I offer an amendment on behalf of myself, Senator Hagel, Senator Cleland, and Senator Domenici which would increase the deductibility of health insurance for self-employed individuals. The current law allows for self-employed persons to deduct 40 percent in 1997. We actually increased that... eventually by the year 2004, it would be at 60 percent. We would like to accelerate that. That is what this amendment does. It would improve it from 1997, the year we are in, from 40 percent to 50 percent. In 1999, it improves it from 45 percent to 60 percent, and in the year 2003, it improves it from 50 percent to 80 percent, and so on. We want to improve and accelerate health insurance deductibility for the self-employed. Mr. President, I used to be self-employed, and it always bothered me that I used to manage a corporation and the corporation could deduct 100 percent of health care premiums, but my company, when I was self-employed--it was a janitor service--could only deduct 40 percent. I would like parity, and, hopefully, eventually we will get there.”