{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-suspending-medical-device-tax-will-help-spur-economic-growth-job-creation-and-innovation", "Donnelly: Suspending Medical Device Tax Will Help Spur Economic Growth, Job Creation, and Innovation", "2015-12-18", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Joe Donnelly", "D000607", "www.donnelly.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Donnelly: Suspending Medical Device Tax Will Help Spur Economic Growth, Job Creation, and Innovation\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tA longtime supporter of repealing the medical device tax, Senator voted for a two-year suspension of the tax that now heads to the Presidents desk\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tFriday, December 18, 2015\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, D.C. Today, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly voted for a two-year suspension of the medical device excise tax, which was included as part of a larger bipartisan tax relief and government funding agreement that passed the Senate 65-33. The package has already passed the House and now heads to President Obamas desk to be signed into law.\r\nDonnelly said, Suspending the medical device tax for two years will help spur growth and innovation in Indianas life sciences and manufacturing sectors, supporting good jobs for Hoosiers  and is only possible because we have worked tirelessly to create bipartisan consensus in both the Senate and the House. This will make a real difference for hard working Indiana families, businesses in our state, and patients who use these medical products.\r\nKathy Heuer, Executive Director of Indiana Medical Device Manufacturers Council said, This is a win for patients worldwide. With a two-year moratorium on the medical device tax and a permanent R&D tax credit, Indiana companies will be able to re-invest in research & development and ensure that we continue to improve therapies and patient safety, help lower the cost of American healthcare and expand high-paying jobs for Hoosiers. We thank Senator Donnelly for his leadership and support on this bipartisan and bicameral issue. He has continued to be a strong supporter of our industry.\r\nSteve Ferguson, Chairman, Cook Group, said, On behalf of Cook Medical, I would like to express the importance of Congress suspending the Medical Device Excise Tax as part of the bipartisan package passed today. For the last three years, that tax has placed a tremendous financial burden on our company, increasing our U.S. tax liability by more than 30%. We had planned to build five new plants in the Midwest but have had no choice but to put those plans on hold. Indeed, the amount of the excise tax we have been paying each year is about the same amount that is needed to build a plant. The two year suspension will enable us to begin expanding again and providing new jobs for American workers. During this time we will look forward to working with Congressional leaders to repeal the tax altogether.We are very grateful that the Indiana delegation worked so hard to address the device tax, and we are proud that our Senators, Joe Donnelly and Dan Coats, worked as bi-partisan leaders and were instrumental in securing Senate approval of this important provision.\r\nIndiana is home to many innovative medical device companies, which together employ about 20,000 Hoosiers. The medical device industry accounts for more than 40 percent of the jobs in Indianas life sciences industry, making Indiana the fifth-largest state in the country in percentage of medical technology sector jobs, accordingto a 2012 BioCrossroadsreport. The same report found that the states medical device industry generated more than $10 billion of annual economic output. BioCrossroads announced inFebruary 2014that Indiana ranked second in the nation in export of life science products, which include medical device products.\r\nDonnelly has been a longtime supporter of repealing the medical device tax. Earlier this year he joined a bipartisan group of senators in reintroducing bipartisan legislation to repeal the medical device tax.\r\nUnder the Senate-passed legislation, the 2.3 percent medical device tax will be suspended from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2017. Products subject to the tax include items ranging from surgical drapes and catheters to advanced imaging equipment.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-suspending-medical-device-tax-will-help-spur-economic-growth-job-creation-and-innovation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9366879239678383, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}