{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=0a9ce58c-4a96-4f04-ba36-ad2353630d31", "Murkowski Votes For Tax Certainty for Alaskans", "2014-12-16", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.16.14\n\t\t\t Murkowski Votes For Tax Certainty for Alaskans \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Senator Also Supports Legislation She Co-Sponsored Expanding Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Senator Murkowski today joined 75 of her colleagues in passing H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, a one-year bill to extend over 50 now-expired individual, business, and energy-related tax code provisions for this calendar year. Though she supported this measure to protect Alaskans from an unwelcome tax hike in their 2014 returns, Murkowski believes the bill only underscores the need for comprehensive tax reform in the next Congress.\u00a0 The bill also includes the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, to provide additional financial options to persons with disabilities. \r\n\u201cWhile do not believe eleventh hour bills like this are the way to legislate responsible tax policy, the economic harm on Alaskans of having tax deductions disappear was something that had to be avoided,\u201d said Murkowski.\u00a0 \u201cThough I am concerned the bill benefits a number of small, questionable interests \u2013 which we must get a handle on \u2013 it contains many provisions to help our hard-working families and small business owners and we owe it to our taxpayers to provide this certainty as we get ready to start the 2014 tax season.\u201d \r\nSenator Murkowski also objected to the full extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy included in the bill, saying \u201cThis is the last time I intend to vote for a full extension of the wind PTC. \u00a0Wind is an important but increasingly mature technology. Instead of retroactive renewals, we should be focused on the rapid phase-out of this increasingly-costly provision. \u00a0That will save taxpayer dollars - and help drive the innovation and cost-cutting needed for this industry to stand on its own.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe Tax Increase Prevention Act contains some provisions to help working families \u2013 like the state and local sales tax deduction, college tuition deduction, making purchasing school supplies a tax deductible expense for school teachers, and the discharge of mortgage indebtedness from gross income.\u00a0 The bill also contains provisions that help out Alaska\u2019s small business economy, like bonus depreciation and business expensing provisions. \r\nSenator Murkowski co-sponsored the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act in the Senate, which allows for the creation of tax-preferred disability savings accounts for qualified expenses, including education, housing, transportation and medical expenses. ABLE accounts would operate similar to 529 higher education savings plans.\u00a0 The bill also supplements other benefits for persons with disabilities without jeopardizing their eligibility for much needed benefits, including Social Security and Medicaid benefits. \r\n\u201cI was proud to have co-sponsored this legislation and am pleased to support its final passage.\u00a0 The ABLE Act will help level the playing field for those persons with disabilities by allowing them to save for education, medical, transportation and housing expenses \u2013 all in the interest of supporting them reach a better quality of life.\u201d\r\n\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 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": ["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=0a9ce58c-4a96-4f04-ba36-ad2353630d31"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.768240075558424, "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"}