“HARDI is pleased that the House sees the long-term economic value in supporting small businesses by repealing this tax law,” said HARDI CEO Talbot Gee. “Repealing of the estate tax should be seen as a jobs bill. Those who continue to think such repeal is only a windfall for the rich will hopefully get to meet with HARDI member company employees during next month’s Fly-In to hear from those whose jobs and livelihoods are threatened by this double taxation.  We hope our representatives in the Senate will now show the same support for our country’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.”

“We all benefit when a small businessperson succeeds,” said ILLCO, Inc. chief financial officer Karen Madonia, who also serves as co-chair for HARDI’s Government Relations Committee. “It seems counterintuitive to do anything to discourage the entrepreneurial spirit. To me, and probably to a large portion of the generation behind me, the estate tax serves as a tremendous disincentive.”

In March, Madonia testified before members of the Congress, urging them to pass the bill.

After the bipartisan vote, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, issued the following statement:

“The death tax can be a nightmare for some Americans—from family farmers to small- and minority-business owners—who have worked hard to build something to pass on to their children. And when a family is dealing with the loss of a loved one, the last thing they should have to worry about is the federal government coming in and undercutting their livelihood. In the words of my friend Congressman Kevin Brady, this is the wrong tax at the wrong time, and it's hurting the wrong people.

"Though we should fix our tax code to make it simpler, flatter, and fairer to help build a healthy economy, the death tax is actually hurting our economy now and putting unnecessary pressure on families and small businesses. That's not how the tax code should work, and that's why we passed this bipartisan bill to permanently repeal the death tax. We have to keep advancing these kinds of reforms so we can give taxpayers the relief they deserve and hopefully one day re-write this broken, antiquated code."

The bill has been introduced in the Senate by John Thune, R-South Dakota.