Daily Herald - U.S. House Votes to Kill a Paperwork Rule in Health Care Law

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Suburban businesses may not have to worry about mounds of paperwork required by the federal health care reform law, as a measure to kill that portion of it passed the House Thursday.

"I was very excited about the repeal," said U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, a Hinsdale Republican. "It saves so much of the burden that we were putting on small businesses."

The 1099 tax form provision of the health care law, passed last year, requires a tax form to be filed every time a business transaction of $600 or more occurs. All Republicans and 76 Democrats voted to repeal the measure in a vote of 314-112.

U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, a Winfield Republican, one of the original sponsors of the bill to repeal this provision, said complying with the 1099 provision would cost businesses an extra $74 an hour and would have applied to 40 million entities, including nonprofit organizations and government, as well as business.

"Time and time again, I heard from my constituents about the need to repeal the 1099 provision," Hultgren said. "I'm pleased we had the opportunity to do so today with so much bipartisan support."

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat, agrees that the 1099 provision needs to go, but voted against Thursday's repeal measure. She objects to the way the bill pays for the $24.9 billion cost of repeal: by reducing coverage. Under the bill, individuals and families who are eligible for health care assistance at the beginning of the year are subject to taxation if they get a raise or a better job by the end of the year.

"I wish I could vote today to repeal the 1099 reporting requirements, just as I voted to repeal them last year," Schakowsky said. "I cannot, however, solve the burden on small businesses by imposing a burden on middle-class families, particularly when we have so many better choices to pay for repeal."

The measure now heads to the Senate for a vote.

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