Senate Passes Marriage Tax Cut

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Trumpeting the growing budget surplus as a signal to slash the tax burden, Republicans won Senate passage Tuesday of a bill that would eliminate the ``marriage penalty'' by

Tuesday, July 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Trumpeting the growing budget surplus as a signal to slash the tax burden, Republicans won Senate passage Tuesday of a bill that would eliminate the ``marriage penalty'' by cutting taxes for virtually every married couple.

``All of these families have contributed to the record surplus that we have in Washington,'' said Sen. William Roth, R-Del., the Senate Finance Committee chairman. ``They deserve to get some of it back.''

Shrugging off President Clinton's veto threat and Democratic criticism that the bill is skewed to the wealthy, the Senate voted 61-38 for the legislation that would reduce government revenue by $248 billion over 10 years. Eight Democrats joined most Republicans in favor, but the margin was not veto-proof.

Differences must still be worked out with the House, which passed a 10-year, $182 billion earlier this year. GOP leaders expected an agreement later this week and cited the latest glowing surplus estimates in pressing the president to abandon his veto threat.