[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 26, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1776-S1777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Brown):
  S. 2162. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
establish a deduction for married couples who are both employed and 
have young children and to increase the earned income tax credit for 
childless workers, and to provide for budget offsets; to the Committee 
on Finance.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, our workforce has changed a lot in the 
last few decades. Thirty years ago the majority of families with 
children had only one parent working outside the home. More of the 
country's low-wage workers were teenagers earning some extra spending 
money. Today two-thirds of families with children rely on earnings from 
both parents, and millions of low-wage workers in our country are far 
less likely to be teens supplementing their allowance and far more 
likely to be adults struggling to support their families. It has also 
gotten a lot harder for young people just starting out to find work 
that puts them on a strong path. There is a very concerning pattern of 
young people dropping out of the labor force rather than keeping up 
their search.
  These are the kinds of trends we need to be thinking about as we look 
for

[[Page S1777]]

ways to help today's workforce succeed in today's economy. There are 
many steps we can and absolutely should take to tackle the barriers our 
workers and our families are facing. We should start with raising the 
minimum wage because no one working full time in the United States 
today should live in poverty. Low-wage workers in today's economy, who 
are putting in very long hours while raising their children, paying 
taxes, and trying to pay the bills, deserve a better shot at success.
  But that is not the last step we should take. As we are looking for 
ways to expand opportunity for struggling workers and families, we 
should be using every tool in the box--including our Tax Code. Policies 
such as the earned-income tax credit have succeeded in helping millions 
of households lift themselves out of poverty, which is why Republicans 
and Democrats have come together to strengthen the EITC so many times 
in the past. But today too many struggling workers and families are 
left behind under our outdated Tax Code.
  It is time to build on these efforts to support work, including the 
critical expansions of the EITC in 2009, which should be made 
permanent, and we need to update our Tax Code so that it reflects the 
needs of today's workforce.
  I am proud to be here today to introduce the 21st Century Worker Tax 
Cut Act. It is a bill that would complement critical reforms, such as 
raising the minimum wage, by providing targeted tax cuts designed for 
today's workforce. It is paid for by closing wasteful loopholes that 
both Democrats and Republicans have proposed eliminating.
  The 21st Century Worker Tax Cut Act would put in place a new tax 
deduction to help struggling families with two workers keep more of 
what they earn. The way our Tax Code is currently structured, the 
second earner in a household often pays a higher tax rate on his or her 
earnings. Making matters worse, when a second earner decides to enter 
the workforce, the family usually faces many new costs, such as 
childcare or transportation, and the family can lose eligibility for 
credits, such as the EITC and other benefits.
  Add it all up, and many struggling two-earner families today end up 
taking home a smaller percentage of their paycheck than many of the 
wealthiest households in America. These realities often discourage a 
potential second earner, such as a mother who is considering reentering 
the workforce to return to her professional career.
  Struggling families face a lot of challenges to getting ahead today. 
The very least we can do is keep our Tax Code from forcing families to 
take a half step backward for every step forward, and that is exactly 
the problem the 21st Century Worker Tax Cut Act will help to solve.
  This bill will give our working families a 20-percent deduction on 
the second earner's income. A mom or dad who goes back into the 
workforce and brings home an extra $25,000, for example, would get a 
$5,000 deduction. For a family in the 25-percent bracket, that means 
$1,250 back in their pocket for groceries, childcare, transportation, 
or retirement savings.
  The bill also reflects the reality that workers without dependent 
children and young workers who are just starting out are being left 
behind under the current EITC. My colleague Senator Brown has been a 
leader on this issue. He is a cosponsor of the bill I am introducing 
today.
  Unlike low-income workers with kids at home, workers without 
dependent children receive little or nothing from this credit. As 
workers file their 2013 tax returns this spring, a single worker with 
no dependent children is eligible for a maximum credit of only $487. 
She is entirely phased out of the credit once her income reaches 
$14,340, which is about what a full-time minimum wage worker would earn 
in a year. Young, childless workers under 25, who are starting out in a 
tough labor market, are not eligible at all. In an economy today where 
more low-wage earners are middle-aged and where young people are 
struggling to gain a toehold in the job market, it doesn't make any 
sense.
  Our bill, the 21st Century Worker Tax Cut Act, would increase the 
EITC for workers without dependent children to about $1,400 next year 
and expand the income range over which workers are eligible for the 
credit. It would also lower the eligibility age for the childless 
worker to qualify for the EITC from 25 years old to 21 so that young 
workers without dependents get the same incentives that have helped so 
many others get on their feet. The Treasury Department estimated that 
EITC changes similar to these would help more than 13 million 
struggling workers climb the economic ladder.
  As we expand the EITC, we have a responsibility to do everything we 
can to make sure this credit is going straight to the workers and 
families who need it, and part of that responsibility is to make sure 
that the EITC claims are filed correctly. Professional tax return 
preparers complete 70 percent of these EITC claims. Under our bill, the 
21st Century Worker Tax Cut, they would receive twice the current 
penalty if they don't follow due diligence requirements put in place by 
the IRS.
  Workers and families are playing fair, and the biggest corporations 
should too, and that is why this bill would be paid for by closing 
loopholes that the biggest corporations take advantage of. The 21st 
Century Worker Tax Cut would draw on a proposal from my colleague 
Senator Reed of Rhode Island, who is also a cosponsor of this bill. His 
proposal closes a loophole that lets corporations claim outsized tax 
breaks by paying their executives stock options instead of regular 
paychecks. This bill would also stop multinational corporations from 
shifting profits into tax havens such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands 
to avoid paying their fair share.
  There is bipartisan support for closing those loopholes. Both 
Democrats and House Ways and Means chairman Dave Camp have proposed 
eliminating each of them. Updating our Tax Code to give tax breaks to 
our struggling workers instead of big corporations is the right thing 
to do.
  As we continue this important debate about how to expand opportunity 
to those who are struggling today, we need to make sure we are giving 
today's workforce the best shot in today's economy. We should increase 
our outdated minimum wage to give millions of workers a raise, and then 
Democrats and Republicans need to come together to update our Tax Code 
and give today's struggling workers the tax relief they deserve. The 
21st Century Worker Tax Cut would be a strong, fiscally responsible 
step toward that bipartisan goal, and I am hopeful we can get this done 
for our workers as quickly as possible.

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