HARDI Government Affairs Co-Chair Karen Madonia of Illco, Inc. (Aurora, IL), who was one of two business owners who participated at a press conference introducing the bill last year, stated regarding the bill, “What the authors and supporters of this bill clearly understand, and what I hope that members of both houses can embrace, is that the estate tax presents a real problem for family-owned companies.”

HARDI has been working with coalition partners for over two years to bring a House vote to fruition and members have been active in helping the bill gain support in the form of co-sponsors. If 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. Oftentimes, they must fire workers, sell equipment or close the business entirely to pay Uncle Sam. Nearly 70 percent of family businesses do not survive to 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 HARDI member businesses grow and pass to  future generations.

The estate tax made recent news when Congressman Brady’s Death Tax Repeal Act surpassed 218 bipartisan co-sponsors needed to reach a majority of the House of Representatives. Senator John Thune carries the mirror bill in the U.S. Senate with 37 co-sponsors. The estate tax was also recently featured in articles detailing Bill and Hillary Clinton’s planning to legally avoid the estate tax, while voting consistently to impose it on the rest of the country.

For more information, visit www.hardinet.org.