Blumenthal, DeLauro Call for Extension of Transit Benefit
(Hartford, CT) – Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today called on Congress to retroactively extend a federal, pre-tax commuter benefit that helps thousands of employees in Connecticut pay for the commute to and from work. They were joined by city and transportation officials at Union Station in New Haven to highlight the need to increase the transit portion of the benefit and make it permanent.
"Failure to extend this tax benefit will harm working families and small businesses, as well as clog the roads, contaminate our air, raise gasoline usage, cost consumers, and impose unfair discrimination against mass transit users,” said Blumenthal. “Hundreds of commuters from every corner of the state have expressed to me, through letters, emails, and phone calls in recent months, how useful and important this benefit is to them on a daily basis. Commuters face an unconscionable double whammy-- higher fares, and an effective tax increase, unless we do the right thing and renew the full 230 dollar benefit. I will enlist others in this fight for fairness."
“Transportation is the second largest household expense for American families struggling in an already tough economy. In New Haven alone, commuters lost $559 per person and spent 28 hours delayed in traffic last year. Providing the same pre-tax transit and vanpool benefits that are available for parking is sensible public policy that gives families flexibility in commuting options, provides savings for employers, reduces congestion and our dependence on foreign oil, and helps protect the environment,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “I look forward to working with Senator Blumenthal and the rest of our delegation to reinstate the commuter benefit for 2012 and to make it permanent so that our commuters and employers maintain the same options they have recently enjoyed.”
According to Commuter Benefits Work for Us, over 2.7 million working families in the country now take advantage of the transit portion of the commuter benefit program, saving employers an estimated $311 million in payroll taxes last year.
Starting in 2009, commuters could set aside up to $230 a month in pre-tax dollars to help cover the costs of mass transit and vanpool services. Commuters who drove were also able to set aside up to $230 a month in pre-tax dollars to help defray the costs of parking. Now, due to Congressional inaction, the transit and vanpool portion of this benefit returned to its previous level of $125 per month at the end of 2011, down from $230, while commuters who drive can still use up to $240 in pre-tax dollars for the parking benefit.
Paying for commuting expenses with pre-tax dollars allows employees to save on the high cost of transportation and reduces the taxable payroll for employers who participate in the program. Senator Blumenthal and Congresswoman DeLauro are cosponsors of the Commuter Benefits Equity Act - S.1034 in the U.S. Senate and H.R. 2412 in the U.S. House of Representatives - which would make this commuter benefit permanent and establish parity between the parking and transit benefits.
###