Senate Votes Down Appalling Tax Proposal – Momentarily

On Thursday, the Senate voted on a proposal to give yet another massive tax break to multi-millionaires and billionaires by permanently repealing or drastically reducing the estate tax. Thanks in part to a letter NOW sent to Senators and to calls from NOW activists and others, conservatives did not receive the 60 votes they needed to pass this bill and repeal the tax. The vote was very close, 57-41, so your support truly helped preserve the estate tax, at least for now.

Although the Senate failed to pass the bill this time, the effort to give tax breaks to a handful of wealthy families is not dead. The Republican leadership is working on a substitute that would reduce rather than repeal current estate taxes (known for the moment as the Kyl amendment) and is threatening to attach this version to any "must pass" legislation on the Senate floor. They could try to attach the amendment to a pension bill that may or may not reach the Senate before the July 4 break or to an immigration reform bill that may or may not make it out of a conference committee. Stay tuned.