ISSUE 1127 MINIMUM
WAGE, ESTATE TAX BILL DIES The
U.S. Senate failed to come up with the necessary 60 votes Thursday (August 3)
to end debate on the passage of a bill incorporating a higher federal minimum
wage, a cut in the estate tax and a set of tax breaks for businesses. The House
had passed the bill in late July. The
bill would have raised the minimum wage by $2.15. And under the estate tax section,
the amount of an individual’s estate that would be exempt from taxes would
rise to $5 million by 2015. For a couple, that amount would rise to $10 million.
Current law eliminates the estate tax in 2010, but brings it back the following
year with a rate of 55 percent on estates larger than $1 million. ALSO IN THIS WEEK'S RAP-UP (Members-Only articles are indicated in bold.) |
