U.S. Congressman Pat Tiberi | Representing the 12th District of Ohio

U.S. Congressman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) announced that two of his pro-growth bills were included in a larger jobs package, H.R. 4, the Jobs For America Act, that passed the House today by a vote of 253-163.

“I am pleased that once again my colleagues recognized the importance of the Bonus Depreciation Permanency Act and the America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act to give employers the certainty they need to grow their businesses and hire new workers,” said Congressman Tiberi, Chairman of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures. “These measures, along with the broader bill, will go far in helping to spur economic growth, support American employers and get workers back on the job and I hope Majority Leader Harry Reid will allow the Senate to promptly consider the bill.”

H.R. 4, the Jobs for America Act, contains 15 previously-passed bills to help grow the economy and allows the Senate to more quickly consider and pass these important measures. Two of those bills were introduced by Congressman Tiberi.

Congressman Tiberi introduced H.R. 4457, the America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act on April 10, 2014. The bill would help create stability for small business owners, leading to their growth and expansion, by making permanent small business expensing requirements outlined in Section 179 of the tax code. The deduction amount has varied over the years, but from 2010-2013, the small business expensing rules allowed small business owners, farmers, and ranchers to immediately deduct up to $500,000 in investments in property, equipment, and computer software rather than depreciating the cost over time. Under current law, the amount dropped significantly to $25,000 this year. The bill originally passed the House on June 12, 2014 by a vote of 272-144.

Congressman Tiberi introduced, H.R. 4718, a bill to make bonus depreciation permanent to encourage economic growth, foster job creation, and increase wages on May 22, 2014. The measure would help companies better access capital, invest in new facilities and create American jobs by permanently extending 50 percent bonus depreciation – i.e., allowing businesses to deduct immediately, or “expense,” half of the cost of new equipment purchases – while lifting some restriction to allow certain tax credits to be used for capital reinvestment, and ensuring more companies may take advantage of bonus depreciation. The non-partisan Tax Foundation has reported that making bonus depreciation permanent would support the creation of 212,000 new jobs and increase federal revenue by $23 billion per year. The bill passed the House by a vote of 258-160 on July 11, 2014.

The Jobs for America Act also includes measures like the Save American Workers Act, a bill to repeal Obamacare’s 30 hour-per-week definition of full-time employees and the American Research and Competitiveness Act, a provision to make the Research and Development Tax Credit permanent to encourage more innovation and investment in the U.S., and a measure to repeal Obamacare’s medical device tax. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.