WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI, co-chair of the Senate Manufacturing Caucus), Dick Durbin (D-IL, Senate Assistant Majority Leader), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today joined business leaders and workers at the U.S. Capitol to urge passage of the Bring Jobs Home Act. The Bring Jobs Home Act, authored by Senator Stabenow and cosponsored by Durbin, Whitehouse and Blumenthal, ends a tax giveaway that rewards companies that ship jobs overseas and provides a tax cut for American businesses that move overseas jobs and business activity back to America.
Senators were joined today by Tim Bryan, Chairman and CEO of GalaxESolutions. GalaxE.Solutions is committed to bringing IT jobs back to the U.S. through programs such as “Outsource to Detroit,” a campaign focused on building a healthcare IT hub in downtown Detroit. GalaxE.Solutions has already hired more than 150 IT professionals with more than 200 immediate openings. Stabenow announced the introduction of her Bring Jobs Home Act at GalaxE.Solutions in May.
The senators were also joined by Lori Manuel, an employee with U.S. Airways who has helped train 700 new employees who have their jobs as a result of U.S. Airways moving overseas jobs back to America, as well as recently hired U.S. Airways workers.
Senator Stabenow said: “We need to be exporting our products, not our jobs. Instead of giving tax breaks to companies that send jobs overseas, we should cut taxes for U.S. companies that create jobs in America. This bill encourages American businesses to bring jobs home and stops rewarding companies that move them abroad.”
Senator Durbin said: “Today, the federal tax code actually rewards companies that close a plant here in the United States and move those jobs overseas,” Durbin said. “Outsourcing American jobs to low-wage countries is unfair, unwise and puts hard working, middle class families on the line. The Bring Jobs Home Act gives us the opportunity to close the loopholes that encourage outsourcing, increase incentives for companies to create jobs at home, and strengthen the American economy.”
Senator Whitehouse, who previously introduced related legislation to end a tax incentive for moving jobs overseas, said: “I’ve seen the harm outsourcing has done to jobs in my state, including one instance where machines were unbolted from a Rhode Island facility and shipped to another country to do the same work. We need to give Rhode Island business owners an even playing field by ending incentives to send jobs overseas, and rewarding businesses that are committed to creating jobs here at home.”
Senator Blumenthal said: “I’m proud to be a leading cosponsor of the Bring Jobs Home Act and applaud Senator Stabenow’s leadership on this issue. Passing this common sense measure will provide companies with major tax incentives to bring jobs back to America and end outrageous tax loopholes that reward companies for offshoring jobs. We should reward companies that bring jobs home – restoring and re-shoring them – not those that send them to China or elsewhere. A 20 percent tax credit could be the tipping point for many companies that are considering – as many are right now – whether to bring back facilities or plants. I hope that a bipartisan coalition will come together this week to pass this bill, which hard working families in Connecticut and across the nation deeply deserve.”
Tim Bryan, Chairman and CEO of GalaxE.Solutions, said: “It is quite rewarding to see our message of job repatriation resonating at the highest levels of business and government in this country. A monumental shift is taking place that needs to be acted upon now. Senator Stabenow’s initiative is poised to be a game changer in putting Americans back to work.”
Lori Manuel, U.S. Airways employee, said: “Call center workers at US Airways have seen 700 jobs returned to the U.S. over the past few years, and this is terrific news for workers, customers and our company. It shows that a smart company recognizes that quality service provided by American workers is a real competitive advantage. If we’re going to have a strong economic recovery that benefits everyone, we need more good jobs returned to the U.S. I’d like to thank all the Senators who are standing with U.S. workers and businesses and supporting the return of quality jobs to America.”
The Bring Jobs Home Act:
Ends a tax break for U.S. companies that outsource jobs and business activity. Right now, the cost of moving personnel and company operations to a new location is defined as a business expense that qualifies for a tax deduction. Senator Stabenow’s legislation would no longer allow this deduction for companies that move jobs and business activity outside of the U.S.
Creates a new tax cut to encourage U.S. companies to bring jobs home. Specifically, the bill will allow U.S. companies to qualify for a tax credit equal to 20% of the cost associated with bringing jobs and business activity back to the United States. The company will be able to apply the 20% tax credit against its corporate income tax. Companies bringing jobs home would then still qualify for the deduction currently available for the costs associated with moving personnel and business activity, as well as the new 20% tax credit (i.e., the 20% tax credit is in addition to the current deduction, not instead of).
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