Reforming Our Tax Code

Driving down rates while simplifying our tax code

Our current tax code is simply broken. Each year, job creators spend billions of hours and hundreds of billions of dollars
in crippling costs just to comply with a labyrinth of rules and regulations that change from year to year. Under the
current tax code, success is penalized and growth has been driven overseas as a result of an effective corporate tax rate
of 39 percent, on average - the highest in the industrialized world. The current system is unsustainable.

Congress is developing a comprehensive plan focused on lower tax rates to help the middle class. This includes
first simplifying the tax code by reducing paperwork and filing requirements. Ideally, Americans will be able to file their
taxes on a form as simple as a postcard. Individual rates will come down and tax brackets will be consolidated so that
Americans are not penalized for their success. Special interest loopholes will be closed and policies that reward and
encourage savings and investment will be strengthened. Increased capital expensing for businesses will enable job
creators to grow and innovate while policies that modernize the tax code will allow companies to bring jobs and
profits back to America without penalty. Meaningful tax reform is on the horizon and remains among my top priorities.

Protecting deductions that matter to New Yorkers

I will advocate for provisions of our tax code that benefit Upstate families and small businesses. For example, the
mortgage and charitable tax deductions are vitally important components of our tax code that bring substantial
benefits to Usptate families and charitable organizations across the 22nd District. Likewise, the federal deduction for
state and local property taxes saves New York taxpayers thousands each year. For this reason, I recently joined my
New York congressional colleagues in sending a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury expressing strong
concerns over proposals to eliminate this important deduction. State and local tax deductibility has been a feature
of our tax system since 1913 and prevents residents in high-taxed states like New York from being doubly taxed.

Preserving municipal bonds for local governments

Tax-exempt municipal bonds have been a key tool for local governments to fund infrastructure and development
projects for many decades. Nearly two-thirds of the core infrastructure investments in the U.S. are financed with
tax-exempt municipal bonds. A unique combination of local control and local responsibility make municipal bonds an
effective and efficient tool for communities. I have called on House leaders to include tax-exempt municipal bonds
in any future tax reform proposal. Changes to the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds, such as those that have
been discussed in Congress, could considerably increase financing costs for state and local governments.

Alleviating Upstate counties of Albanys unfair and burdensome Medicaid liability

I am an original cosponsor and champion of H.R. 1871, the Property Tax Reduction Act. This bill will correct an
oversight in federal law that has allowed Albany to pass along the costs of its soaring Medicaid program onto local
counties, burdening our local governments with increased tax liabilities and driving up our property taxes. No other
state in the country abuses its local governments and taxpayers quite like Albany to fund an expansive Medicaid
program. Out of all 50 states, New York burdens its counties with the highest percent of its Medicaid obligations. New
York transferred more than $7 billion of its state Medicaid burden to counties in fiscal year 2015.

To learn more about Congresswoman Tenneys #RenewNY22 Growth Plan,

visit www.tenney.house.gov. Also, be sure to sign up for her weekly e-newsletter.