St. Louis, MO - The National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) joined more than 35 industry groups and advocacy organizations supporting Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Congressman Kevin Brady’s (R-TX) recent calls for a vote this year on Congressman Brady’s “Death Tax Repeal Act,” HR 2429. The Family Business Coalition sent a letter to Reps. Brady and Camp, along with House Leadership.
The letter states in part, “We believe that full repeal of the death tax is the only permanent solution for America’s family businesses and farms and applaud your efforts to bring this important issue to the floor for the first time in over nine years. Our member family business owners across the country deserve to see where their elected representatives stand on death tax repeal.”
NAED has been working with coalition partners for more than two years to bring a House vote to fruition. NAED members have been active in helping the bill gain support in the form of cosponsors. If our efforts pay off, it would be a significant achievement – the last time the House voted on estate tax repeal was in 2005 where it passed 272-162.
The estate tax is especially harmful to family businesses because they tend to be asset rich but cash poor, meaning they lack the cash on hand to pay a 40 percent estate tax. Often, they must fire workers, sell equipment, or close the business entirely to pay the government. Nearly 70 percent of family businesses do not survive the second generation and a full 90 percent close before the third generation, due in part to the estate tax. Repealing the estate tax will help our family businesses grow and pass to future generations.
The estate tax recently made news when Congressman Brady’s Death Tax Repeal Act surpassed 218 bipartisan cosponsors, reaching a majority of the House of Representatives. Senator John Thune carries the mirror bill in the US Senate with 37 cosponsors.
NAED is the trade association for the $70+ billion electrical distribution industry. Through networking, education, research, and benchmarking, NAED helps electrical distributors increase profitability and improve the channel. NAED’s membership operates in approximately 5,100 locations internationally.
