Legislative Alert 10/01/04

Naval Reserve Association Legislative ALERT:  # 1 – OCTOBER 1, 2004

1. The Senate JOBS Act (S 1637) Provides Tax Credits to Employers of Guardsmen and Reservists
2. Call or E-mail Senate Finance Committee, and House Ways and Means Congressional member, or Professional Staff Member (PSMs) – TODAY!  

Details:

1. Tax Credits to Employers of Guardsmen and Reservists (Senator Landrieu Amendment to S 1637) http://thomas.loc.gov

The Issue 

• The Senate Finance Committee, and the House Ways and Means held Conference on the Senate Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Act – S 1637, and American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 – HR 4520, late this week. 
   
• Over 410,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve have been activated since September 11, 2001.This number continues to grow, as DOD announced this week it will alert another 16,000 Guardsmen and Reservists for possible deployment.Today, 40% of our troops in Iraq are Guardsmen or Reservists.Unfortunately, the GAO estimates 41% of activated Guardsmen and Reservists will face a reduction in salary during activation versus civilian salaries, known as the “Pay Gap.”Thousands of employers have patriotically made up the Pay Gap or even offered full salaries to their activated Guard and Reserve employees.However, most employers simply cannot afford to pay a mobilized employee.Loss in pay leaves great strains on mobilized reservists, and their families.Retention suffers when families suffer.Additionally, small businesses suffer losses in productivity when their employees are activated, and this amendment provides tax credits to help small business and manufacturers hire temporary workers.  

The Solution 

• Call or send and e-mail to Committee Chairs and Ranking members, and to the Professional Staffs on the Committees.These are legislative goals that many have sought for years, and will greatly assist our Naval Reservists.Act today – to let the Congressional members and Professional Staff members on these committees know that they need to keep these provisions in the final version of the JOBS Act Bill. 
   
• To address this problem, the Senate approved a Landrieu amendment to S. 1647 to provide the following to employers of our Guard and Reservists:
  • A 50% tax credit to employers continuing to pay activated Guard and Reserve employees, with a cap of $30,000 ($15,000 credit) per employee;
  • The credit would cover salaries paid on days when the employee is activated for up to 2 years to cover the entirety of the deployment;
  • The credit rewards those employers already going above and beyond what the law mandates; encourages more employers to do so; and alleviates strains on Guard and Reserve families; and
  • A $6,000 credit to help small business owners hire temporary workers to fill-in for activated employees and a $10,000 credit for small manufacturers to hire temporary workers. 
     
• We strongly urge you to write or contact the following Committees and the Professional Staff members on these committees, on keeping the Landrieu Amendment in the JOBS Act – S. 1637.
• NOTE:Contact your representative, as a citizen; please remember to not use government time or equipment!

For Senate Finance Committee:

Majority Phone: (202) 224-4515                    FAX-202-228-0554    
Minority Phone: (202) 224-5315      

Majority Staff Director – Kolan Davis, or Minority Staff Director Russ Sullivan

http://finance.senate.gov

 

Send E-mails to:

Senator Grassley (IA), or Senator Baucus (MT) – www.senate.gov

For House Waysand Means Committee:

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/

Phone: (202) 225-3625
Fax: (202) 225-2610

Chief of Staff: Allison Giles, or Minority Staff Director – Janice Mays

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/contact.asp

Send E-mails to members:

Congressman William Thomas (CA) - www.house.gov/writerep

Congressman Charles Rangel (NY) - www.house.gov/writerep

Find your members in the House at – www.house.gov/writerep   – e-mails and fax numbers are listed on home pages

Find your members in the Senate at – www.senate.gov   – e-mails and fax numbers are listed on home pages

Example for fax letter:

To a Senator:                                                             To a Representative
The Honorable (full name)                                           The Honorable (full name)
United States Senate                                                 House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510                        (OR)                Washington, DC 20515

 

Dear Senator (last name)                                               Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms (Name)                                

I request that you maintain the Landrieu Amendment to S. 1637, that provides tax credit provisions for employers of Guard and Reserve members.  

Very respectfully,

(Your Name), (Your address)

Feel free to forward this e-mail.   For those of you who receive this and you are not already a member, please consider joining the Naval Reserve Association.  Check us out at: www.navy-reserve.org or call on our toll free number 866-672-4968.