Carper and Minner Team Up for Payroll Tax Holiday

WASHINGTON, DC – Governor Ruth Ann Minner joined Senator Tom Carper in Washington, DC today to call on Congress to reach consensus on an economic stimulus bill by enacting a “Payroll Tax Holiday.” Governor Minner has been a leader in the Democratic Governor’s Association and National Governor’s Association on this issue. Carper was an early co-sponsor of the measure, and was recently praised by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as a “strong advocate” on this issue. “Enacting a month-long payroll tax holiday would be a great gift to our economy this holiday season,” Carper said. “Governor Minner and I talk about making Delaware’s bipartisanship a model for the nation, and we now have that chance. The payroll tax holiday is a way to walk together out of the rough economic times our nation now faces. The payroll tax holiday is a path we can, and should, take together.” “A payroll tax holiday is a way to ensure that almost everyone has the chance to feel relief in our tightening economy and has the opportunity to help turn things around,” said Gov. Minner, who, along with other Democratic governors, met with Daschle Wednesday morning in Washington. Unlike some of the proposals in Congress which call for more targeted tax cuts, the payroll tax holiday applies to every single person who pays payroll taxes – from the part-time service employee to the most wealthy executive. Unlike the stimulus plan passed by the House of Representatives, which gives billions of dollars back to the biggest businesses, this plan helps even the smallest family business as well. The plan also helps most state governments by giving them the holiday as well, which would provide them additional revenue to pay for economic stimulus efforts tailor-made for their own states. “A payroll tax holiday will not only put money in the pockets of consumers to help our economy, but would help ease the negative impact of the federal economic stimulus package on state budgets, which are tight already and getting tighter. That’s the message the nation’s governors have been trying to convey to Congress,” Gov. Minner said. “As a former Governor, I often worry that when some people make decisions in Washington, DC they do not think about the consequences in state capitols like Dover, DE,” said Carper. “This payroll tax holiday has the added virtue of helping states like Delaware.”