Dems push for healthcare tax break

Senate Democrats are pushing to extend a healthcare tax break for laid-off workers into the upcoming House spending bill, arguing “this is an issue that cannot wait.” 

{mosads}The healthcare credit expired at the end of 2013, but was one of a just a handful of lapsed incentives that House didn’t restore for this year that it passed on Wednesday.

Because of that, eight Democratic senators – including Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) – are seeking to attach the tax break to the spending bill that Congress needs to pass this week. The current stopgap funding bill expires on Dec. 11.

In a letter to top House lawmakers, the senators noted that the credit has bipartisan support, and would hurt retirees hurt during the General Motors rescue.

“If Congress fails to act, the pensions of these retirees will not be made whole when they file their 2014 returns,” the senators wrote on Friday.

House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has said he believes that the tax break could be negotiated in broader trade talks.

The other senators to sign the letter were Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.).