Marc Nozell

As a United States Senator, Hillary Clinton voted against income tax relief for all Americans. In 2001 she voted no on “the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act” (H.R. 1836), the Republican tax cut package.

This legislation made several improvements to the tax code that reduced the burden on American families.  The bill created a new, low ten percent bracket and reduced all existing tax brackets. Tax cuts for higher brackets were phased in over several years, with the top rate being cut by only 0.5 percent in the first year.

Not only did H.R. 1836 provide across the board tax relief, it also doubled the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000, raised the 15 percent bracket threshold to protect families from the marriage penalty, increased the contribution limit for retirement savings accounts from $2,000 to $5,000, and increased the death tax exemption to $3.5 million.

Clinton characterized the tax relief as a “spendthrift tax plan. On May 23, 2001, she voted no on the bill, which passed 62-38. She later voted no on the conference report on May 26, 2001, which also passed, 58-33.