11.14.06

Cantwell Wins Seat on Senate Finance Committee

Cantwell’s Key Agenda Promises go thru Top Committee: From Middle Class Tax Cuts to Trade, From Protecting Social Security to Lowering Health Care and RX Costs

WASHINGTON, DC – Tuesday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) secured a seat on the Senate Finance Committee, guaranteeing her a central role in formulating legislation to extend middle class tax cuts, protect social security, and lower health care and prescription drug costs next year. Cantwell plans to use her Finance Committee seat to make permanent the state sales tax deduction, the research and development tax credit, and key credits and deductions that help students and families save and pay for college. Cantwell will also use the new post to improve prescription drug coverage for seniors, and deliver health insurance to more uninsured children in Washington state through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

“I promised the people of Washington state that I would fight for middle class tax cuts, lower health care and drug costs, protecting Social Security, and smart trade policy,” said Cantwell. “This key committee assignment gives the Northwest a vital seat at the table where these important decisions will be made. I’m thrilled with this new opportunity to improve tax fairness for our state by fixing the state sales tax cut this year and making it permanent. This is a great opportunity to reduce the ranks of uninsured children in Washington, to help give our state’s economy a boost through improved incentives for cutting-edge advancements, and to make everything from college to energy more affordable for Northwest families. This assignment is a win for the Northwest, and I’m going to keep fighting for Washington state from this new post.”

Cantwell will keep her seat and six years seniority on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Cantwell will also keep her seats on the Indian Affairs and Small Business committees. She is also in line to chair the Coast Guard and Fisheries subcommittee of the Commerce Committee.

The Finance Committee oversees all tax issues, trade, welfare, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The committee also has jurisdiction over Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP.

Cantwell has long worked on many of the issues overseen by the Finance Committee, and will now gain added leverage to see her proposals signed into law. Cantwell and incoming Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) have pushed to extend the state sales tax deduction, the research and development tax credit, a deduction for teachers who use their own money to buy supplies for their classrooms, and a $4,000 tax deduction for college tuition. During recent months, Republican leadership blocked their efforts repeatedly. Using her Finance post, Cantwell now plans to see extensions of these vital deductions signed into law, and will work to make many of them, including the sales tax deduction, permanent.

Cantwell has worked to increase Medicare reimbursement rates to improve health care access for seniors, and to improve prescription drug coverage under Medicare. Cantwell is also the sponsor of a proposal to provide health care coverage to as many as 70,000 Washington children who are currently uninsured. By freeing up additional SCHIP dollars, Cantwell’s plan would help Washington expand coverage to more children in need. SCHIP is a federal program that helps states cover uninsured low-income children from families with incomes above Medicaid eligibility levels. However, due to SCHIP rules that needlessly punish states leading the way in covering uninsured children, Washington state has been forced to turn back $191 million in federal funds over the past 10 years. Of the 100,000 uninsured children in Washington, 70 percent who are not enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP but are eligible could get coverage under Cantwell’s proposal.

Cantwell has also introduced legislation to increase by an average of $3,000 the tax benefits for families saving money for their children’s education. Her Education for Students Act, which she will continue to push in the coming months, would increase the maximum contribution to Coverdell Education Savings Accounts to $5,000 per year—up from its current level of $2,000. At current rates, families could accumulate an average $3,000 in additional tax-free college savings under the new proposal—or much more, depending on how much they choose to put away. Cantwell is also working to increase the Pell Grant award.

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