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S. 3393 · 112th CongressIn committee

Middle Class Tax Cut Act

Latest action. Read the second time. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 457. · July 18, 2012

Live record from Congress.gov, updated as the official record changes.
What this bill would do
Official summary · Congressional Research Service

Middle Class Tax Cut Act - Extends through 2013 for a taxpayer whose income is $200,000 or less ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly): (1) the tax rate reductions and other tax benefits of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, and (2) the reduction in the tax rate for dividend and capital gain income enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Increases income tax rates and phases-out personal exemptions and itemized deductions for certain high-income taxpayers.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2013: (1) the increased American Opportunity tax credit, (2) the increase in the refundable portion of the child tax credit, (3) the increased earned income tax credit percentage for three or more qualifying children, (4) the disregard of tax refunds in determining eligibility for federal and federally-assisted programs, and (5) the election to expense depreciable business assets.

Modifies estate tax provisions to establish: (1) an estate tax exclusion of $3.5 million, and (2) a maximum 45% estate tax rate.

Extends for one year: (1) the increased exemption amount for the alternative minimum tax (AMT), and (2) the offset against the AMT of certain nonrefundable personal tax credits.

Provides that the budgetary effects of this Act shall not be taken into account under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on July 17, 2012. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Status
Introduced
July 17, 2012
In committee
July 18, 2012
Passed a chamber
Cleared Congress
Enacted
Where this sits in the process
Common questions
Composed from the official record
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?

4 steps remain before this bill could become law.

The record's latest action, on July 18, 2012: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 457.

  1. Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
  2. Passage by the Senate
  3. Passage by the House
  4. The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
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 is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, 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?

HARRY REID (D-NV) introduced it on July 17, 2012. No cosponsors are recorded.

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 July 17, 2012, 5168 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5167 days ago, on July 18, 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

  1. Senate
    In committee, no floor vote yet
  2. House
    Awaits Senate passage
  3. President
    Awaits both chambers
No recorded votes yet
No roll call in this Congress cites this bill. Most bills die in committee without ever reaching a recorded floor vote.