WASHINGTON  – Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, with exclusive Senate jurisdiction over taxes, this week joined the committee chairman to introduce tax legislation that would create job opportunities for veterans returning home from military service and help businesses create jobs.  This is the latest in a series of Grassley actions to help veterans and active duty members of the military.

“These men and women are extremely capable,” Grassley said.  “They have a lot of skills to offer in the workplace.  This legislation will clear some bureaucratic hurdles and add a financial incentive to encourage employers to seek out veterans.  These steps are a logical follow-up to my effort to increase the IRS’ hiring of veterans.  The IRS saw the value of this pool of potential workers and followed through on increased hiring of veterans.  Other employers, including small businesses, should have similar opportunities.”

The bipartisan Veterans Employment Transition Act will reward employers who hire qualified veterans who have recently completed their service in the military with up to a $4,800 tax credit for disabled veterans and up to a $2,400 tax credit for other qualifying veterans.  The bill eliminates the administrative burdens that make the current Work Opportunity Tax Credit provision directed toward unemployed veterans difficult for small businesses to use.  As a result, servicemen and women who have been recently discharged will be able to provide documentation from the Department of Defense without having to go through the tax credit’s current certification process, which can be lengthy.   Any recently discharged veteran who has discharge paperwork showing 180 days of qualified active duty is eligible. This includes those men and women who were activated by their states as members of the National Guard.  The bill also requires the military to educate service members on how employers may qualify for the tax credit by hiring them.  The bill text is available here.

The introduction of this legislation follows earlier Grassley steps to increase veterans’ hiring.  Beginning in 2008, Grassley succeeded in persuading the IRS to increase its hiring of veterans. At Grassley’s urging, the agency hired more than 1,000 veterans in 2008, per a verbal commitment Grassley secured from the IRS commissioner, and hired an additional 700 veterans in the first five months of Fiscal Year 2009.  Grassley is seeking an update for the rest of Fiscal Year 2009.  Grassley initiated the effort after realizing that the Treasury Department, including the IRS, lagged behind other federal agencies in hiring newly returned veterans, even though the department had significant vacancies.

In 2008, Congress made permanent several provisions to provide tax relief for American troops and their families that Grassley helped to advance.  The Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008, the HEART Act, was a bipartisan effort that incorporated most of the provisions in the Defenders of Freedom Tax Relief Act of 2007, which Grassley co-sponsored and promoted.  The HEART Act also made permanent and expanded upon some of the tax relief measures that Grassley coauthored in 2003, while chairman of the Finance Committee.

“Military service makes taxes complicated and sometimes unfair,” Grassley said.  “People shouldn’t suffer a tax hit to serve our country.  Military men and women should have fair treatment under the tax code. It’s a no-brainer.”

Last year, Grassley welcomed the enactment of legislation he cosponsored to help members of the military benefit from the first-time homebuyer tax credit.  Before this correction, members of the military were penalized by the credit’s structure.  The correction gave military personnel serving outside of the United States more time to qualify for the credit.   It also eliminated the repayment requirement for military personnel forced to sell as a result of official service.  The legislation also excluded from tax any payment to military personnel to compensate them for loss in home value resulting from base closure.

Apart from tax work, Grassley recently has worked to address the ongoing and growing backlog of veterans’ claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  He also cosponsored successful legislation that will ensure timely, sufficient and reliable funding for the VA health care system.  This legislation was supported by all major veterans’ organizations as well as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  Grassley also has worked to include several beneficial provisions in the Caregiver and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act.  This new law corrects a number of deficiencies in how the U.S. cares for veterans with traumatic brain injuries, enhances VA support for family caregivers, and expands mental health services.  In 2009, Grassley received the American Legion’s Distinguished Public Service Award for his work on issues important to veterans.

-30-

WASHINGTON, D.C. – MAY 21, 2010 - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement as the Obama Administration released guidance for biomedical research firms to take advantage of a new tax credit.  The new policy became law as part of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health reform bill.  Harkin helped craft that law as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.  He has been a long-time leader to secure funding for biomedical research as chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds health initiatives.

“The promise of health reform continues to become a reality for Iowans,” said Senator Harkin. “With the guidance released today, our economy will begin to turn the corner with good jobs in the field of biomedical research and incentives to boost research and produce new therapies in this critical field.  I urge all eligible firms to look into this new incentive and take advantage.”

Key facts on the Therapeutic Discovery Tax Credit:

•    The tax credit is effective immediately and covers up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying biomedical research.
•    The credit will be allocated among projects that show significant potential to produce new and cost-saving therapies, support good jobs and increase U.S. competitiveness.
•    The credit is only available to smaller firms: those with 250 workers or fewer.
•    Firms can opt to receive a grant instead of a tax credit, so startups that are not yet profitable can benefit as well.

The new tax incentive will be administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Applications are available on IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/ and are due by July 21st, 2010.

###

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 20, 2010 – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) tonight issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate passed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 by a vote of 59 to 39.

“I voted for this measure because it is a step in the right direction. This bill will create a strong consumer financial protection bureau that will put a stop to a whole range of predatory financial practices targeting ordinary Americans.

“I am particularly pleased that language requiring commercial banks to spin off their derivatives operations remained in the bill in its original form as reported from the Senate Agriculture Committee. This is a very important part of the bill and I hope it remains in the conference-reported bill.

“I am disappointed, however, that other amendments in line with Chairman Lincoln’s provision were not included. In particular, Senator Cantwell’s proposal to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act was not even considered. I was one of eight senators to vote against financial deregulation in 1999 that did away with Glass-Steagall. Reconsidering this issue had a place in this debate. Also, Senators Brown and Kaufman offered an amendment that would have dramatically reduced the size of the largest financial institutions. Unfortunately, the amendment was defeated.

“The problem in the financial sector, as with so many areas of our economy, is that the ground rules and oversight have been lax. Too many in the financial industry put profits ahead of people. As a direct consequence, tens of millions of ordinary Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, and, their livelihoods. This legislation will help restore some balance to our financial sector.”

Washington, DC – May 20, 2010 – Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) participated in a follow up hearing today examining the response of Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to the problem of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. As Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Braley questioned NHTSA Administrator David Strickland and President and COO of Toyota USA, James Lentz.  Braley’s opening statement, as submitted for the record, is attached.

“At our February hearing, I raised questions about the work of Exponent, which Toyota hired to conduct an analysis of its electronic throttle control system with an unlimited budget, and about the financial relationship between Toyota and Exponent and its predecessor, Failure Analysis Associates,” Braley said in an opening statement submitted to the record. “Unfortunately, it appears that Exponent has failed to conduct a comprehensive investigation of Toyota’s electronic throttle control system, and has instead focused its time and resources on attempting to discredit the work of Southern Illinois University Professor David Gilbert, who testified at our last hearing that he was able to induce sudden unintended acceleration in a Toyota vehicle without the vehicle’s computer recording the event through a diagnostic trouble code.

“I’m seriously concerned about Toyota and Exponent’s ongoing failure to conduct a credible investigation of Toyota electronics, and by reports that Toyota may have sought to develop a PR campaign to discredit Dr. Gilbert and Sean Kane, who also testified before the Subcommittee in February.”

Video of Braley’s opening statement, as delivered, is available here.

Video of Braley’s questioning of Toyota USA President and COO James Lentz is available here.

Video of Braley questioning NHTSA Administrator David Strickland is available here and here.

# # #