“Ticket To Success” Credit Will Help 10 Million Middle-Class Students Attend College

Plan Is More Generous, More Flexible, Simpler, And Available To More Families Than Existing Credits

SAINT PAUL [09/08/08] - DFL-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken today proposed a revolutionary new tax cut to help more Minnesota families achieve the prosperity offered by a college education.

Al Franken:

“A college diploma is more than a dream for Minnesota families - it’s practically a requirement for middle-class prosperity. But with George W. Bush in the White House and Norm Coleman in the Senate, that prosperity has slipped out of reach for Minnesota’s middle class. My tuition tax cut will bring college within reach for 10 million students nationwide. And it will take a step towards restoring America’s middle-class promise: that hard work can bring prosperity to your family.”

The Ticket To Success tax credit: What you need to know

• Generous. It covers up to $5,000 for each student in a family - the taxpayer, a spouse, or a dependent - and can be taken for four years.
• Flexible. It works for any post-secondary education - public or private, graduate school or community college.
• Simple. It replaces a number of smaller, less generous credits and will make taking advantage of these benefits much easier.
• Available to more families. It applies to families earning up to $200,000 per year - including many two-income middle-class households currently excluded from current credits - and will help up to 10 million students nationwide.
• Paid for. It will cost $48 billion over five years - compared to the $319 billion that will be generated by allowing tax breaks for those earning over $1 million per year to expire.

Norm Coleman’s record

In the Senate, Norm Coleman cast the tie-breaking vote for a budget that contained the largest cut in student aid in history. And a few months later, he voted against extending vital tuition tax credits that impacted 82,000 Minnesota families.

September 2003: Coleman Voted To Cut Off Pell Grant Eligibility For Some Lower-Income Students. In September 2003, Coleman voted against an amendment to bar the Department of Education from altering the way it determines student aid eligibility. The amendment’s sponsor, Democrat Jon Corzine, “argued the change the department is ready to implement would cause 84,000 college students to lose their eligibility for Pell Grants for the 2004-05 school year. The department’s plan also would reduce the number of middle-income families eligible for Stafford loans, another form of college and graduate school loans provided or guaranteed by the federal government,” according to Congressional Quarterly Weekly. [HR 2660, Vote 339, 9/10/03; Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 9/12/03]

November 2005: Coleman Voted Against Extending Expiring Tuition Tax Credit. In November 2005, Coleman voted to kill a $58 billion tax cut package that would have extended expiring tax cuts, including the college tuition deduction. “For those who say they care about fiscal responsibility, for those who say they are concerned about the explosion of deficits and debt, here is a chance to prove it,” Senator Kent Conrad said of his tax plan. “Here is a chance to vote for this amendment that will extend the tax provisions that are expiring this year for next year’s taxes, and to pay for it by closing abusive tax shelters.” [Vote 330, 11/17/05; Conrad Press Release, 11/17/05]

December 2005: Coleman Voted For The Largest Cuts To Student Aid In History. In December 2005, Coleman voted for the Budget Reconciliation bill, which, according to the Washington Post, “[shaved] $12.7 billion out of the federal student loan program, in large part by locking in interest rates often at a higher level than the current variable rates.” The National Education Association criticized the bill, saying it contained the “Largest Cut in History” to student aid. [Vote 363, 12/21/05; Washington Post, 12/19/05; NEA Press Release, 12/20/05]

May 2006: Coleman Voted For A “Fiscally Reckless” Tax Bill That Benefited Wealthy While Raising Taxes for Students. In May 2006, Coleman voted for the final version of the $70 billion tax reconciliation bill that extended the Bush tax cuts on capital gains and corporate gains while failing to extend a provision that had allowed 3.6 million students and families to deduct $7.1 billion in college tuition costs in 2003. The Star Tribune called the bill “act of fiscal recklessness,” and Republican Senator Olympia Snowe said the bill “is not balanced” and “ignores critical tax incentives for middle-class Americans like the work opportunity tax credit, the R&D tax credit, and the tuition deduction that have already expired and will remain expired under this bill.” [Vote 118, 5/11/06; Democratic Policy Committee, 9/26/06; Star Tribune, 5/11/06; Snowe Press Release, 5/12/06]

More Than 82,000 Minnesota College Students Were Excluded from Coleman-Supported Tax Bill. By supporting the 2006 tax reconciliation bill, Coleman voted to let the college tuition tax deduction that allows families to deduct up to $4,000 a year for tuition expire, leaving more than 82,000 Minnesota students and families in the lurch. [Vote 118, 5/11/06; 2003 IRS Data from the Senate Finance Committee; Democratic Policy Committee, 9/26/06]

###

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 5:02 pm and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.