Maria Cantwell: “Today I am joining my good friend the Senator from Texas, (Mrs. Hutchison), and the Senator from Tennessee, the Majority…”

“Today I am joining my good friend the Senator from Texas, (Mrs. Hutchison), and the Senator from Tennessee, the Majority Leader, Mr. Frist, in legislation to permanently extend the State sales tax deduction. This bill aims to make permanent legislation that the Congress passed and the President signed into law last year on October 22, 2004 as a provision of the JOBS Act. It is a change to the tax code that I have worked to see enacted since coming to the U.S. Senate, and one I want to maintain. The JOBS Act reinstituted, for a period of 2 years, the ability of taxpayers to deduct State and local sales taxes just as they would State and local income taxes. Residents of States such as Washington that do not have income taxes, but have State sales taxes, had not been able to do this since 1986. Make no mistake about it: permanently extending the sales tax deduction is a tax cut for Washington State taxpayers. Such a cut will strengthen our economy and fundamentally restore basic tax fairness.”