Senator Grassley's spokeswoman released the following information regarding the Grassley et al. disaster tax relief bill, which has a House companion bill from Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa, would give a lot more relief to recently affected Midwestern states, including Wisconsin, than Rep. Ron Kind's bill. The Grassley-Loebsack bill has many more tax relief provisions. It's much more targeted by date, geographic area covered, and scope of covered disaster. The two bills have four provisions that generally do the same thing; a fifth provision is similar to the Grassley-Loebsack provision but has been adversely modified in the Kind bill. In addition, the Grassley-Loebsack bill has 21 MORE provisions than the Kind bill -- 26 total versus 5 total (see attached comparison for the 21 provisions not contained in the Kind bill that are contained in the Grassley-Loebsack bill). The Grassley-Loebsack bill would provide much more varied, targeted relief to the Midwestern states affected by flooding and tornadoes earlier this summer than the Kind bill.
Rep. Kind's district would fare better under the Grassley-Loebsack bill than his own. Out of the district’s 19 counties, 10 counties were declared eligible for federal assistance. Nine were eligible for individual and public assistance. One more was declared eligible for public assistance only. The nine counties would qualify for all 26 provisions of the Grassley-Loebsack bill. Kind's bill offers only five provisions. Four of these provisions are already contained in the Grassley-Loebsack bill in exactly the same form. The fifth provision in the Kind bill is less generous than its counterpart in the Grassley-Loebsack bill.
In dollar terms, the Kind bill provides $13.5 billion over ten years. The Grassley-Loebsack bill provides $4 billion. However, the Kind bill would distribute relief over the entire nation, for both the Midwestern disasters this summer and for potential future disasters nationwide. The Grassley-Loebsack bill would distribute relief only to the Midwestern states affected this summer.
Linked below is relevant material, including comparisons of the two bills
Text of Midwest Tax Relief Bill
Comparison of Midwestern Disaster Tax Relief Bill and Rep. Kind Bill
Rep. Kind's Dear Collegue Letter Description of Rep. Kind's Bill
Staff Summary of Senator Grassley's Bill
Revenue Estimate for Grassley Bill
Jill Gerber, press secretary, Committee on Finance, Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley, 202/224-6522
