Sam Johnson tax bill becomes law

Press Release

Defying the odds and confounding the critics, today common-sense tax legislation authored by U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) became law when the President enacted the Small Business Jobs Act. The Act included Johnson's cell phone fix, H.R. 690, the MOBILE (Modernize Our Bookkeeping In the Law for Employee's) Cell Phone Act.

Johnson's provision modernizes the tax treatment of cell phones and Blackberries used for business by repealing the requirement that employers and employees maintain detailed logs of cell phone use. Until now, the law required employers track the personal cell phone use of their employees to receive a tax deduction even though the outdated law did not require employers to track the use of the phone at an employee's desk for personal purposes.

"It is a tremendous honor to have my tax bill become a law. While I had hoped for this day, some naysayers predicted failure because I serve in a Democrat-controlled House, Senate and White House. This just goes to show that if you put your head down, work hard and do what's right, great things can happen for America," said Johnson, who attributes this legislative victory to his tenure in Congress as well as his seat on the prestigious tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and role as a Deputy Whip in Republican leadership.

A constituent concern brought this absurd tax law to Johnson's attention in 2008 and sparked Johnson's action. Johnson's bipartisan measure garnered 214 co-sponsors. The overwhelming support for the legislation, plus the backing of the Administration, provided the needed momentum to include the no-nonsense Johnson measure in one of the last bills of the waning congressional session. "The fact that a constituent concern generated this legislation makes this accomplishment even more meaningful," continued Johnson.

Johnson takes great pride in the fact that his bill became law with a Democrat-controlled House, Senate and White House. Johnson considers passage of the cell phone fix among his signature legislative achievements. Others include co-authoring the original Wright Amendment repeal, drafting the first pension reform in a generation, securing a federal courthouse in Collin County, and eliminating the earnings penalty seniors paid if they wanted to work in retirement and collect a pension and a paycheck from the same employer. Eliminating the earnings penalty has proved especially helpful to older Americans in the wake of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Johnson, a 29-year Air Force veteran and former Prisoner of War for nearly seven years in Vietnam, represents portions of Dallas and Collin Counties.

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