A. L. (Butch) Alford, Jr. Lewiston Morning Tribune Lewiston, ID	Alton F. Baker III The Register-Guard Eugene, OR	Chris Bennett The Medium Seattle, WA
Jerry Brady Post Register Idaho Falls, ID	Scott Campbell The Columbian Vancouver, WA	Chuck Cochrane Yakima Herald-Republic Yakima, WA
Wm. Stacey Cowles The Spokesman-Review Spokane, WA	Nancy L. Freeman Kodiak Daily Mirror Kodiak, AK	Deborah Frol Walla Walla UB Walla Walla, WA
Stephen Hartgen The Times-News Twin Falls, ID	Peter Hovitz Eastside Journal Bellevue, WA	David Lord Pioneer Newspapers Seattle, WA
Elizabeth McCool The Bulletin Bend, OR	Ted Natt The Daily News Longview, WA	Thad Poulson Daily Sitka Sentinel Sitka, AK
Ronald Stewart The News-Review Roseburg, OR	Dwight Tracy Herald and News Klamath Falls, OR	Dennis Waller The Chronicle Centralia, WA
Lew Williams, III Ketchikan Daily News Ketchikan, AK	L. Stedem Wood Skagit Valley Herald Mt. Vernon, WA	Rufus Woods The Wenatchee World Wenatchee, WA

cc:

Evonne Agnello Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association	Diana Kramer Washington Newspaper Publishers Association	Virginia Moorehouse The Bakersfield Californian Bakersfield, CA
Rowland Thompson Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington	Alexis Scott Reeves Atlanta Daily World Atlanta, GA	Dorthy Leavell Chicago Crusader Chicago, IL

Death Tax Newsletter

This bi-monthly newsletter is produced by the Seattle Times for family owned newspapers. Please share it with other family businesses in other industries. Any suggestions for distribution or content will be greatly appreciated.

106th Congress
Both bills to repeal the estate tax in the 105th Congress had great support in the House and Senate. Unfortunately, they did not make it into legislation. Here’s the status of the key bills:

Cox/Kyl Bill (HR902/S75)
At the close of the 105th Congress there were 206 co-sponsors for the Cox/Kyl bill. After the November election, 184 co-sponsors will remain in office. In addition, we have 17 new "pledges" to sign on in the 106th Congress from newly elected officials.

Dunn/Tanner (HR 3879)
Representative Dunn had 133 co-sponsors in the 105th and 124 will remain in the 106th Congress.

Both bills in the House and Senate will need to be re-introduced and the bill numbers will change. We’ll keep you posted on these changes. SEE HOW YOUR LEGISLATORS STAND ON THE ATTACHED DEATH TAX SCORECARD.

Momentum has never been higher
Death tax repeal will happen!
• 85% of those recently surveyed by the Luntz Research Company believe the 55% tax rate is unfair.
• 77% of the American voters polled by 60 Plus indicate they would be more likely to support a member of Congress if he/she voted to eliminate the death tax.
• 18 states have repealed state inheritance taxes since 1980 - three of them this year.

What lies ahead
The American Family Business Institute, Sixty Plus, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, other local Chambers, National Newspaper Association, National Association of Manufacturers, Small Business Council of America, Heritage Foundation, and at least 90 other trade and professional associations are bent on death tax repeal. (This is truly a grassroots movement.) The principals of these organizations continue to conference monthly to discuss current bill status, lobbying efforts and grassroots campaigning.

There has been some talk of formalizing this coalition by organizing a C(4) organization to further the efforts of this group. If this comes to fruition, the organizations receiving this newsletter may be asked to help build the membership. More on this effort in the New Year.

What you can do
Please continue to talk to people about this devastating tax policy. Attached to the newsletter are talking points for you to use when discussing the impact of the death tax. Each time you have an opportunity to talk to members in your district, work to influence their opinion.

www.deathtax.com
The death tax web site has received more than 9,000 hits this fall. There is another death tax web site you might find useful: www.policyandtaxationgroup.com

Web site - www.deathtax.com

Did You Know?

The death tax brings in less than 1.1 percent of total federal revenues.

And, it is estimated it costs the government 65 cents of every dollar raised for enforcement and compliance.

The death tax is a jobs issue.

Repeal of the tax would result in 145,000 new jobs over the first 9 years of repeal.

And that doesn’t include the countless jobs that would be saved if the death tax didn’t force 70% of family and small businesses to liquidate or sell out after only one generation.

99% of all private businesses have fewer than 500 employees. This represents 50% of all private sector jobs which generate 50% of all revenue.

77% of the American voters polled by the 60 Plus Association indicated that they would be "more likely" to vote for their member of Congress if he or she voted to eliminate the death tax.