Coalition Letter Urging Pro-Growth Tax Reform in 2017
February 6, 2017
The Honorable Paul D. Ryan
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Kevin Brady
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives
1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Speaker Ryan & Chairman Brady:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write in support of your efforts to pass pro-growth tax reform into law in 2017.
Given the importance of this issue, we believe is imperative that the House of Representatives make significant progress in the first hundred days of the Trump administration toward passing comprehensive, pro-growth tax reform.
Passage of tax reform that simplifies and updates the code is key toward encouraging economic growth, creating more jobs and higher wages, and promoting innovation and ingenuity. The release of your “Better Way” tax reform blueprint last year was the first step in achieving this important goal, and we encourage you to continue working to ensure tax reform becomes a reality.
As you know, it has been more than 30 years since comprehensive tax reform was last signed into law. Since then, our foreign competitors have drastically reduced their rates, simplified their codes, and updated their systems to be globally competitive. Meanwhile, our tax code has almost tripled in size and has failed to keep pace with the norms of global tax competition.
Tax reform should be viewed as an opportunity to reduce rates for all taxpayers while also repealing many of the discriminatory and preferential provisions in the code in favor of a broader base. Lawmakers also ought to repeal a number of unnecessary taxes like the Death Tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax, which only add to the complexity of the system.
On the business side, tax reform should ensure our small businesses and corporations can compete against foreign competitors, while also ending the confusing, arbitrary system of depreciation in favor of immediate, full expensing of business investments.
Where possible, changes to the tax code should be permanent changes to law. When lawmakers have enacted short-term tax legislation in the past, it has inevitably come under threat in the future by legislators that want to increase the scope and size of government through higher taxes. In contrast, permanent legislation will give families and businesses much-needed certainty and will help contribute to a stronger economy.
Today, pro-growth tax reform is needed more than ever. It is imperative that lawmakers prioritize an overhaul of the tax code in 2017 and make significant progress in the first hundred days of the Trump administration.
Sincerely,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
Pete Sepp
President, National Taxpayers Union
James L. Martin
Founder & Chairman, 60 Plus Association
Dan Weber
President, Association of Mature American Citizens
Lindsey Boyd
Policy Director, Beacon Center of Tennessee
Jim Waters
President, Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions (Kentucky)
Tom Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Chip Faulkner
Citizens For Limited Taxation (Massachusetts)
Chuck Muth
President, Citizen Outreach (Nevada)
Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director, Digital Liberty
Palmer Schoening
Chairman, Family Business Coalition
Adam Brandon
President and CEO, FreedomWorks
Mario H. Lopez
President, Hispanic Leadership Fund
Carrie L. Lukas
Managing Director, Independent Women’s Forum
Heather R. Higgins
President and CEO, Independent Women’s Voice
Andrew Langer
President, Institute for Liberty
Dr. Robert McClure
President and CEO, The James Madison Institute (Florida)
Lisa B. Nelson
President and CEO, Jeffersonian Project
Brett Healy
President, The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy (Wisconsin)
Allen Gutierrez
National Executive Director, The Latino Coalition
Seton Motley President, Less Government
Colin Hanna
President, Let Freedom Ring
Dee Hodges
President, Maryland Taxpayers Association
Brian McClung
Chair, Minnesota Center-Right Coalition
Jordan Harris
Executive Director, Pegasus Institute (Kentucky)
Charlie Gerow
CEO, Quantum Communications (Pennsylvania)
Paul J. Gessing President,
Rio Grande Foundation (New Mexico)
Andrew Moylan
Executive Director, R Street Institute
Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
David Williams
President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance