Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012
Latest action. clotureThe Senate's only procedure for ending debate over objection. Most legislation needs 60 votes; nominations need a simple majority.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 45. Record Vote Number: 65. (consideration: continuing resolutionA stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) S2313; text: CR S2313)
Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an individual taxpayer whose adjusted gross income exceeds $1 million to pay a minimum tax rate of 30% of the excess of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income over the taxpayer's modified charitable contribution deduction for the taxable year (tentative fair share tax). Establishes the amount of such tax as the excess (if any) of the tentative fair share tax over the excess of: (1) the sum of the taxpayer's regular tax liability, the alternative minimum tax (AMT) amount, and the payroll tax for the taxable year; over (2) certain tax credits. Provides for a phase-in of such tax. Requires an inflation adjustment to the $1 million income threshold for taxable years beginning after 2013.
Expresses the sense of the Senate that Congress should enact tax reform that repeals unfair and unnecessary tax loopholes and expenditures, simplifies the tax system, and makes sure that the wealthiest taxpayers pay a fair share of taxes.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 22, 2012. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 45. Record Vote Number: 65. (consideration: CR S2313; text: CR S2313)
Civibrief does not map this action to a stage in the process. See the official record.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on April 16, 2012: Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 45. Record Vote Number: 65. (consideration: CR S2313; text: CR S2313)
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced it on March 22, 2012, and 16 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 15 Democrats, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 22, 2012, 5285 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5260 days ago, on April 16, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateCloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 45. Record Vote Number: 65. (consideration: CR S2313; text: CR S2313)
- HouseNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action