Stabenow, Levin announce inclusion of $400,000 for Michigan in Financial Services Spending Bill

From the offices of Sens. Levin and Stabenow
Friday, July 30, 2010

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, both D-Mich., announced today the inclusion of $400,000 for Michigan in the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday. The bill also includes language sought by Levin that maintains a prohibition against government contracts with inverted corporations, which hide their assets and income offshore to avoid paying taxes.

The bill now must be approved the Senate and a House-Senate conference committee before final Congressional approval and the president’s signature.

“Making sure Michigan’s businesses can access resources they need to grow, train workers, and invest in new ideas is a critical priority as our economy continues to recover,” said Stabenow. “I am pleased that these projects will support communities in their economic development and revitalization plans.”

“These programs will provide practical and critical guidance to businesses around the state, helping them to develop their financial strategies and expand, ultimately meaning new jobs and a stronger economy,” Levin said. “These funds will have a multiplying effect, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in training to dozens of businesses, which in turn will create economic development in the communities.”

The bill also prohibits the government from contracting with U.S. companies that have re-incorporated offshore to escape U.S. taxes. Although the taxation loophole was closed in 2004, more than a dozen major companies that were grandfathered into the law remain inverted. Levin worked with several members of the Senate on this prohibition, particularly Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Susan Collins, R-Maine. This language must be included in the appropriation bill every year.

“I am pleased the Senate will once again include this language to make sure taxpayers don’t have to send their dollars to tax dodgers hiding their corporate headquarters offshore,” Levin said. “I’m also gratified the president and his administration are finally fully enforcing this ban. It sends a powerful message to tax dodgers that the American government is not interested in their business.”