CONGRESSMAN GREGORY W. MEEKS STATEMENT ON THE JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE’S REPORT ON IMPACT OF THE PAYROLL TAX CUT

February 3, 2012

The Joint Economic Committee of Congress released a new report earlier this week that underscores exactly what extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits means for tens of thousands of residents of Queens County. The report entitled, “Keeping More Money in the Pockets of American Families: County-Level Data of Savings by Extending the Payroll Tax Cut,” shows that the median annual wage or salary of a worker in Queens County is $31,854. The additional pay that worker will take home because of the payroll tax cut totals $531. The payroll tax cut will enable a family with two workers keep an additional $1,031.

The Obama Administration and Congress agreed on a bipartisan basis at the end of 2010 to cut the tax employees pay to fund Social Security from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. This measure added about $1,000 to the disposable income of millions of American families. Congress and the Administration also extended long term unemployment benefits. This step was the difference between survival and destitution for at least 7 million Americans who had been unemployed through no fault of their own for more than a year.

At end of last year, Congress agreed on a temporary, two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits. If Congress fails to enact a full one year extension by the end of this month, upwards of 160 million Americans will have greater difficulty paying their rent or mortgages, buying food and clothes for their children, and meeting other bills. Failure of Congress to act will make the situation even worse for millions of long term unemployed Americans.

I urge my colleagues to put aside electioneering, ideology, or maneuvering to load up legislation “poison pills” designed to kill an extension. Instead, let’s do what is obviously better for the American people and our economy by acting with dispatch to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for the rest of this year.

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