November 10, 2006
Change of control in House and Senate alters landscape for hearing aid tax credit
On Tuesday, control of the both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate shifted to the Democrats for the first time since 1994. This change will have major repercussions for a wide variety of legislative issues including tax and healthcare policy. Hearing aid tax credit legislation and related proposals addressing the lack of financial assistance for most hearing aid purchases are also likely to be viewed from a different perspective by the new Senate and House leadership including influential members of the critical Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees.
There is still a slight chance that Congress could enact some form of hearing aid tax credit legislation in the upcoming lame duck session when a limited number of generally non-controversial bills may be considered. This possibility would be dependent, however, on the level of importance given to the tax credit bill by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) and key members of the committee.
Future prospects for hearing aid tax credit legislation have not necessarily been harmed, however, by the Democratic takeover of Congress. The legislation has always been bi-partisan in nature, with more Democrats co-sponsoring the hearing aid tax credit bill in the House (H.R. 414) than Republicans (59 Democrats, 52 Republicans). In addition, targeted tax credit legislation has generally been considered more favorably by Democrats than Republicans who often focus on broad across-the-board tax relief. Democrats have also traditionally focused attention of seniors and children who are the two primary beneficiaries of the tax credit bill as drafted.
Efforts by HIA and its hearing health coalition partners have been fruitful over the past three years in generating broad support for the hearing aid tax credit. In the 108th Congress (2003-2004), the group worked to galvanize coalition support and to supplement the efforts of Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS) who introduced tax credit legislation in the House and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) who introduced a Senate companion bill. The House bill (H.R. 3103) attracted 68 co-sponsors while the Senate bill (S. 2055) was co-sponsored by two Senators. In the 109th Congress (2005-2006), a direct focus by the coalition on increasing support helped to increase co-sponsorship of the House bill (H.R. 414) to 111 and 17 for the companion Senate bill (S. 1060). Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS) and Senator Norm Coleman (R- MN) continued as the lead sponsors in each chamber.
Of great importance, efforts to support the tax credit coalition have brought together groups representing those with hearing loss and those with family members with hearing loss as well as dispenser groups and HIA. The level of cooperation reached a new height on October 30, 2006, when HIA supported the Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh chapters of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA, formerly Self Help for Hard of Hearing People) to host a tremendously successful event to demonstrate to Rep. Melissa Hart (R, PA, Ways and Means member) the importance of H.R. 414 to her constituents. In addition, the A.G. Bell Assn. for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech in Pittsburgh co-hosted the program while HIA member companies invited dispensers to attend the event. Such targeted constituent activities will be critical as well in the future to demonstrate genuine local interest to Representatives and Senators.
Outlook for 110th Congress
Not only did both legislative chambers change hands, but several key hearing aid tax credit supporters were defeated in their reelection bids. The original sponsor of tax credit legislation in the House, Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS) and Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA), a leading Ways and Means supporter, were both denied reelection by voters. In addition, eleven other House co-sponsors either did not seek reelection or were defeated on November 7, although two House co-sponsors, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), were elected to the Senate where they could have greater impact on passage of the bill. Also, several S. 1060 co-sponsors will enjoy greater influence after the elections including Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) who will be the likely new Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) who is a longtime supporter of hearing health and other disability initiatives.
Although the chances for a major tax overhaul package are slim in the upcoming Congress, targeted tax credit proposals are likely to be considered favorably. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the likely new Speaker of the House, has indicated that she supports increases in specific tax credit programs which generally bodes well for a bipartisan proposal such as the hearing aid tax credit.
In the final analysis, Congressional changes will force a refocus of coalition strategy, and this refocus could create more opportunities for passage of a hearing aid tax credit bill in the 110th Congress. The actions of the hearing health coalition over the past three years to generate broad bipartisan support should enable the group to seek out new primary supporters and to work with the new leaders of the critical tax writing committees.
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