The battle to resist the excise tax continue, with a front line of resistance forming in the House and Senate. Efforts include the movement to drum up support for the Sanders-Franken-Brown Amendment, which replaces it with a high-earner tax similar to that contained in the House health reform bill. The Amendment’s three sponsors – Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, and Sherrod Brown – are clearly holding the fort on the Senate side, and we’ll be watching to see who else signs on as a cosponsor.
In the House, one prominent front-liner is Rep. Joe Courtney. Last Friday Rep. Courtney joined the director of health research at consulting firm Watson Wyatt to discuss the negative impact of the tax at a press briefing. “(T)he Senate proposal, when you really scrutinize it, will result in a much higher burden to middle class families,” Courtney said. In an email cosigned by Rep. Sander Levin, Rep. Courtney also shared survey findings from the Mercer consulting group which showed that only 18% of employers would pass benefit reductions along to workers in the form of higher wages.
Today’s front-liners: Sens. Sanders, Franken, and Brown, and Rep. Courtney and Levin.
