Johnny Isakson, United States Senator from Georgia


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, May 11, 2006 Isakson Praises Passage of Bill Extending Tax Relief for Americans *Continues to Call for Making Tax Cuts Permanent* WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today praised the Senate’s passage of legislation that will continue to encourage the nation’s job creation and unprecedented economic expansion by extending tax relief. The House-Senate conference report on the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 will extend for two years the capital gains and dividend tax rate reductions as well as increasing the exemption threshold for the Alternative Minimum Tax. The bill will also increase expensing for small businesses from $25,000 to $100,000. “The tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 lowered tax rates for individuals, businesses, dividends and capital gains, eliminated the marriage penalty and scaled back the alternative minimum tax and the death tax,” Isakson said. “Critics said we were giving a handout to the rich, but the facts are these tax cuts created jobs, allowed businesses to expand and left more money in the pockets of our families.” Isakson was a co-sponsor of the legislation enacting the tax cuts, which Congress passed in 2001 and 2003. He has continued to be a strong supporter of making the tax cuts permanent. “This legislation is a step in the right direction, but I feel very strongly that we should continue our nation's unprecedented economic prosperity by making the tax cuts permanent. We absolutely cannot afford to abandon the very strategy that has created over 5 million jobs in the last three years,” Isakson said. The latest economic figures show that the United States gained more than 138,000 new jobs in April and nearly 5.3 million jobs during the last three years. The current unemployment rate is 4.7 percent, which is the lowest in more than four years. Federal revenues for Fiscal Year 2005 totaled $2.15 trillion, which is the highest level ever. In Georgia, more than 3 million taxpayers will have lower income tax bills as a result of the tax cuts. The House of Representatives approved the conference report on May 10. The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature. ###
E-mail: http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm Washington: United States Senate, 120 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Tel: (202) 224-3643 Fax: (202) 228-0724 Atlanta: One Overton Park, 3625 Cumberland Blvd, Suite 970, Atlanta, GA 30339 Tel: (770) 661-0999 Fax: (770) 661-0768

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 11, 2006

Isakson Praises Passage of Bill Extending Tax Relief for Americans
Continues to Call for Making Tax Cuts Permanent

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today praised the Senate’s passage of legislation that will continue to encourage the nation’s job creation and unprecedented economic expansion by extending tax relief.

The House-Senate conference report on the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 will extend for two years the capital gains and dividend tax rate reductions as well as increasing the exemption threshold for the Alternative Minimum Tax. The bill will also increase expensing for small businesses from $25,000 to $100,000.

“The tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 lowered tax rates for individuals, businesses, dividends and capital gains, eliminated the marriage penalty and scaled back the alternative minimum tax and the death tax,” Isakson said. “Critics said we were giving a handout to the rich, but the facts are these tax cuts created jobs, allowed businesses to expand and left more money in the pockets of our families.”

Isakson was a co-sponsor of the legislation enacting the tax cuts, which Congress passed in 2001 and 2003. He has continued to be a strong supporter of making the tax cuts permanent.

“This legislation is a step in the right direction, but I feel very strongly that we should continue our nation's unprecedented economic prosperity by making the tax cuts permanent. We absolutely cannot afford to abandon the very strategy that has created over 5 million jobs in the last three years,” Isakson said.

The latest economic figures show that the United States gained more than 138,000 new jobs in April and nearly 5.3 million jobs during the last three years. The current unemployment rate is 4.7 percent, which is the lowest in more than four years. Federal revenues for Fiscal Year 2005 totaled $2.15 trillion, which is the highest level ever. In Georgia, more than 3 million taxpayers will have lower income tax bills as a result of the tax cuts.

The House of Representatives approved the conference report on May 10. The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature.

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E-mail: http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Washington: United States Senate, 120 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-3643 Fax: (202) 228-0724
Atlanta: One Overton Park, 3625 Cumberland Blvd, Suite 970, Atlanta, GA 30339
Tel: (770) 661-0999 Fax: (770) 661-0768