Letter to the Honorable Dave Camp, Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and the Honorable Sander Levin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means - Federal Tax Code Stacked Against Transit

Letter

Dear Chairman Camp and Ranking Member Levin:

As you continue to mark-up tax extender proposals in the House Ways and Means Committee, we strongly urge you to support the prioritization of the transit tax parity benefit in any future extender package under consideration.

Until December 31, 2013, commuters who used public transportation were able to take advantage of the commuter transit tax benefit. The benefit provided up to a maximum of $245 per month, the same amount as the tax-free benefit for qualified commuter parking. The transit benefit maximum was reduced to $130 per month in January when Congress did not act to preserve the transit benefit, while the monthly parking maximum was adjusted up to $250 per month.

When equal benefit levels for transit and highway commuters expired on January 1, 2014, out-of-pocket commuting costs increased for more than 2.7 million American families. The Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) estimated that more than 46,000 riders now have to pay additional taxes on their fares -- from $5.25 to $133.50 per month -- above the current transit tax benefit of $130.

The transit benefit not only makes it more affordable for people to get to work, it also reduce the amount that companies and other employers pay in payroll taxes. These incentives encourage more workers to use public transportation, contributing to reductions in highway congestion and wear and tear on our roads.

The transit tax benefit is too critical to American workers and local economies all over the country to forgo including it as one of the extender provisions your Committee marks-up. We are cosponsors of the bipartisan Commuter Parity Act (H.R. 2288), which would resolve the transit tax parity issue. The legislation would bring the transit and qualified parking benefit to parity -- at $220 per month -- and would be fully paid for by slightly lowering the monthly parking benefit.

We are sensitive to the fact that many extender provisions need to be examined closely. However, we are convinced that the commuter transit tax parity language should be one of the provisions that take priority because of the direct connection it has to the pocketbooks of virtually every district across the country.

Please give all due consideration to raising the total transit tax benefit to $250 per month at parity with parking or to the $220 per month revenue neutral level included in H.R. 2288. Thank you for your consideration of this request. We look forward to working with you.