Wyden and Coats Push for Tax Reform By Year-End

WASHINGTON — Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Dan Coats, R-Ind., are urging President Obama and congressional leaders to agree to include in their debt-reduction plan an agreement to enact comprehensive tax-reform legislation before the end of the year.

They made the request in a two-page letter and release accompanied by the tax-reform bill they have introduced, which would require all new municipal bonds to be issued as tax-credit rather than tax-exempt bonds.

The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2011, S. 727, which they introduced on April 5, also would repeal the alternative minimum tax for individuals.

Republicans and Democrats appear to be at stalemate over reducing the deficit, with the GOP refusing to raise taxes and Democrats refusing to make only spending cuts.

"Tax reform can move us beyond this partisan stalemate," Wyden and Coats told the president, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Done right, it will create good-paying jobs and provide businesses and families with the certainty they need to plan for the future."

The two senators said tax reform would "create a simpler, more business-friendly tax code that increases tax revenue without raising tax rates."

"We recognize there is not enough time to pass comprehensive tax reform between now and the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the debt limit, but there is no reason why any debt-reduction agreement should not include a timeline for enacting tax reform before the end of the year," they said.

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