[House Report 106-495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-495
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PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 6, THE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY
RELIEF ACT
_______
February 8, 2000.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
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Ms. Pryce of Ohio, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 419]
The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration
House Resolution 419, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be
adopted.
summary of provisions of the resolution
The resolution provides for the consideration, in the
House, of H.R. 6, the Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act of 2000,
under a structured rule. The rule provides two hours of debate
equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. The rule
waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
The rule provides that the amendment recommended by the
Committee on Ways and Means now printed in the bill be
considered as adopted upon adoption of the resolution. The rule
further provides for consideration of the amendment in the
nature of substitute, printed in this report, if offered by
Representative Rangel or his designee, which shall be
considered as read and shall be separately debatable for one
hour equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an
opponent. Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit
with our without instructions.
The waiver of all points of order against consideration of
the bill includes a waiver of section 302 (prohibiting
consideration of legislation providing new budget authority in
excess of a committee's allocation of such authority) and
section 303 (prohibiting consideration of legislation, as
reported, providing new budget authority, changes in revenues,
or changes in the public debt for a fiscal year until the
budget resolution for that year has been agreed to) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
The waiver of section 302 is necessary because according to
the Joint Committee on Taxation the bill would increase direct
spending (the outlay effect of the EIC changes) by $10 billion
over the 2001-2010 period. The waiver of section 303 is
necessary because Congress has not yet completed consideration
of a budget resolution for FY 2001 and according to the Joint
Committee on Taxation the bill would decrease revenues by $4
billion in FY 2001 and increase direct spending by $5 million
in FY 2001.
The waiver of all points of order against consideration of
the minority substitute may be necessary for the same general
reasons as are necessary for the bill.
Summary of Amendment Made in Order Under the Rule for H.R. 6, the
Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act of 2000
Rangel: Amendment in the nature of a substitute that
increases the standard deduction for joint returns so that it
is equal to twice the standard deduction allowed for single
taxpayers; adjusts the alternative minimum tax to provide $10
billion more in tax relief to low and moderate-income
taxpayers; increases the income level at which the credit
begins to phase out by $2,000 in 2001 and by $2,500 in 2002 and
thereafter; repeals the current law reduction in EITC and
refundable child credit by the amount of the minimum tax and
makes the tax reductions contained in the substitute contingent
on action to extend Social Security solvency until 2050, action
to extend Medicare solvency to 2030, and a certification that
the publicly-held National debt is projected to be eliminated
by 2013. If those contingencies are satisfied, the substitute
would provide $89 billion of tax relief over ten years. (60
minutes)
Text of the amendment made in order under the rule:
An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Rangel of New York, or a
Designee, Debatable for 60 Minutes
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Marriage Tax Penalty Relief
Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. MARRIAGE PENALTY RELIEF.
(a) Standard Deduction.--
(1) In general.--Paragraph (2) of section 63(c) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to standard
deduction) is amended--
(A) by striking ``$5,000'' in subparagraph
(A) and inserting ``twice the dollar amount in
effect under subparagraph (C) for the taxable
year'',
(B) by adding ``or'' at the end of
subparagraph (B),
(C) by striking ``in the case of'' and all
that follows in subparagraph (C) and inserting
``in any other case.'', and
(D) by striking subparagraph (D).
(2) Increase allowed as deduction in determining
minimum tax.--Subparagraph (E) of section 56(b)(1) of
such Code is amended by adding at the end the following
new sentence: ``The preceding sentence shall not apply
to so much of the standard deduction under subparagraph
(A) of section 63(c)(2) as exceeds the amount which be
such deduction but for the amendment made by section
2(a)(1) of the Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act of 2000.
(3) Technical amendments.--
(A) Subparagraph (B) of section 1(f)(6) of
such Code is amended by striking ``(other than
with'' and all that follows through ``shall be
applied'' and inserting ``(other than with
respect to sections 63(c)(4) and 151(d)(4)(A))
shall be applied''.
(B) Paragraph (4) of section 63(c) of such
Code is amended by adding at the end the
following flush sentence:
``The preceding sentence shall not apply to the amount
referred to in paragraph (2)(A).''.
(b) Earned Income Credit.--
(1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 32 of such
Code (relating to credit for earned income) is amended
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Reduction of marriage penalty.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of a joint
return, the phaseout amount under this section
shall be such amount (determined without regard
to this paragraph) increased by $2,500 ($2,000
in the case of taxable years beginning during
2001).
``(B) Inflation adjustment.--In the case of
any taxable year beginning in a calendar year
after 2002, the $2,500 amount contained in
subparagraph (A) shall be increased by an
amount equal to the product of--
``(i) such dollar amount, and
``(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment
determined under section 1(f)(3) for
the calendar year in which the taxable
year begins, determined by substituting
`calendar year 2001' for `calendar year
1992' in subparagraph (B) thereof.
If any increase determined under the preceding
sentence is not a multiple of $50, such
increase shall be rounded to the next lowest
multiple of $50.''
(2) Repeal of reduction of refundable tax credits.--
(A) Subsection (d) of section 24 of such Code
is amended by striking paragraph (2) and
redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2).
(B) Section 32 of such Code is amended by
striking subsection (h).
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000.
SEC. 3. TAX REDUCTIONS CONTINGENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
SOLVENCY CERTIFICATIONS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Act, no provision of this Act (or amendment made thereby) shall
take effect until there is--
(1) a social security certification,
(2) a Medicare certification, and
(3) a public debt elimination certification.
(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection--
(1) Social security solvency certification.--The term
`social security solvency certification' means a
certification by the Board of Trustees of the Social
Security Trust Funds that the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal
Disability Insurance Trust Fund are in actuarial
balance until the year 2050.
(2) Medicare solvency certification.--The term
`Medicare solvency certification' means a certification
by the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital
Insurance Trust Fund that such Trust Fund is in
actuarial balance until the year 2030.
(3) Public debt elimination certification.--There is
a public debt elimination certification if the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget certifies that,
taking into account the tax reductions made by this Act
and other legislation enacted during calendar year
2000, the national debt held by the public is projected
to be eliminated by the year 2013.