INTRODUCTION OF THE TAX RELIEF FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKERS ACT
Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional Website.
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Friday,February 13, 2009
2009 Ron Paul 16:1
Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce
the Tax Relief for Transportation Workers
Act. This legislation helps those who work
in the port industry cope with the costs of
complying with Congress’s mandate that all
those working on a port obtain a Transportation
Worker Identity Card, TWIC. The Tax
Relief for Transportation Workers Act provides
a tax credit to workers who pay the costs of
obtaining TWICs. The credit is refundable
against both income and payroll tax liabilities.
2009 Ron Paul 16:2
When Congress created the TWIC requirement,
it placed the burden of paying the cost
of obtaining the card on individual workers.
Imposing the costs of obtaining TWICs on port
workers has several negative economic impacts
that Congress should help mitigate by
making the cost associated with obtaining a
TWIC tax deductible. According to the Department
of Homeland Security, a port worker will
have to pay between $100 and $132 to obtain
a card. The worker will also have to pay a $60
fee for every card that is lost or damaged.
Even those employers whose employers pay
the substantial costs of obtaining TWICs for
their workforce are adversely affected by the
TWIC requirement, as the money employers
pay for TWICs is money that cannot go into
increasing their workers’ salaries. The costs of
the TWIC requirement may also cause some
employers to refrain from hiring new employees.
2009 Ron Paul 16:3
Ironically, many of the employees whose
employers are unable to pay the TWIC are
part-time or temporary workers at the lower
end of the income scale. Obviously, the TWIC
requirement hits these workers the hardest.
According to Recana, an employer of port
workers in my district, the fee will have a “significant
impact” on port workers.
2009 Ron Paul 16:4
Unless Congress acts to relieve some of the
economic burden the TWIC requirement
places on those who work in the port industry,
the damage done could reach beyond the port
employers and employees to harm businesses
that depend on a strong American port industry.
This could be very harmful to both interstate
and international trade.
2009 Ron Paul 16:5
Regardless of what one thinks of the merits
of the TWIC card, it is simply not right for
Congress to make the port industry bear all
the costs of TWIC. I therefore urge my colleagues
to stand up for those who perform
vital tasks at America’s ports by cosponsoring
the Tax Relief for Transportation Workers Act.
