Members of the U.S. House are meeting today in an emergency session to pass a tax bill which they say aims to save the jobs of hundreds of thousands of public workers. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who’s on summer recess with the rest of the Senate, says he’s following the events unfolding in Washington as he meets with residents in Iowa.
Grassley, a Republican, says one top concern he’s hearing about is health care. Grassley says the health care bill requires everyone who does business with someone else to file a 1099 form with the IRS so the agency can track the transaction. He says, “That’s become such a hot item that I’ll bet the Democrats will pass the tax bill today in the House that will eliminate that requirement.”
Grassley says during his listening sessions in rural versus urban Iowa, he’s hearing many of the same worries, focused on jobs, the economy and debt. He says there’s concern, especially among corn growers and other farmers, about international free trade agreements with Korea, Columbia and Panama.
Grassley says he’s also hearing from Iowans who are upset about a looming tax increase that could be the largest ever seen in this nation.
“A tax law that I got passed in 2001 when I was chairman of the Finance Committee,” Grassley says. “Under the rules of the Senate then and now, it sunsets after ten years, December 31st, 2010, so that’s where you get the biggest tax increase in the history of the country if we don’t intervene.
Hopefully, we will intervene.” Grassley is making stops today in Dike, Waverly, Clarksville and Cedar Falls.