WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will co-chair one of five bipartisan Finance Committee Tax Working Groups to advance tax reform efforts in the 114th Congress. Brown will lead the Savings and Investment group, along with U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID). The group will have broad jurisdiction to develop policy around retirement security, pensions, the taxation of passive income, and the taxation of financial products.

“Too many Americans aren’t saving enough to buy a home, to pay for their kids’ college education, or for their retirement,” Brown said. “The goal of tax reform should be to increase opportunity for working families. This means reducing their tax burden, increasing opportunities to save, and increasing access to a well-designed retirement plan. We need to modernize our treatment of passive income like the carried interest that hedge fund managers claim as investment income; and reconsider how derivatives and other financial instruments are taxed.

“We need a comprehensive approach to addressing and meeting these challenges, and I look forward to working with my colleague, Sen. Crapo, to strengthen and improve our retirement system so future generations can continue to move into their retirement years with a sense of security and dignity,” Brown said. “We need tax reform that not only works for American businesses, but for American workers and retirees as well.”

The group will work directly with the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to produce an in-depth analysis of options and potential legislative solutions related to savings and investment. The findings will be incorporated into a comprehensive report that will serve as a foundation for the development of bipartisan tax reform legislation.

In addition to Brown’s group, the four other working groups and their co-chairs are listed below:

  • Individual Income Tax Co-Chairs: U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Mike Enzi (R-WY)
  • Business Income Tax Co-Chairs: U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and John Thune (R-SD)
  • International Tax Co-Chairs: U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rob Portman (R-OH)
  • Community Development & Infrastructure Co-Chairs: U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Dean Heller (R-NV)

Brown is leading the effort to ensure American workers and families have access to affordable savings and investment options. As ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee and the Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy, Brown has used his committee platforms to advocate for strengthening social security and improving consumer savings products for all Americans.

Brown held a series of hearings on the current retirement crisis and Social Security’s fundamental role in retirement security. In May 2014, Brown chaired a hearing entitled “Strengthening Social Security to Meet the Needs of Tomorrow’s Retirees,” that examined how Social Security can be expanded to meet the retirement crisis. In Feb. 2014, Brown chaired the first Congressional hearing on the “myRA” retirement plan for low- and middle-income workers that was proposed by President Obama in his 2014 State of the Union Address. In Dec. 2013, Brown’s hearing examined “The Role of Social Security, Defined Benefits, and Private Retirement Accounts in the Face of the Retirement Crisis” and addressed the decline of defined benefit plans, the emergence of defined contribution plans, and Social Security’s fundamental role in retirement security.

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