WASHINGTON – United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate votes to repeal the expanded Form 1099 reporting requirements set to take effect in 2012. Senators Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., introduced separate amendments to S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

Sen. Landrieu said:

“As Chair of the Small Business Committee, I am committed to reducing regulatory burdens for small businesses when I can. In Louisiana and across the country, Main Street businesses are being overloaded with government paperwork requirements. We are constantly looking at ways to reduce these regulations, while also strengthening the 27 million small businesses in America. Entrepreneurs from every part of the country have made it clear that expanded Form 1099 reporting requirements are not something they can handle.

“While I strongly support the full repeal of this reporting requirement, the amendment proposed by Senator Johanns jeopardizes important projects Louisianians cannot afford to lose. The Johanns Amendment takes funds specifically designated to build Coast Guard ships and provide relief for Louisiana families still struggling to recover from four devastating storms, just to name two. The Baucus proposal that I supported repealed these burdensome regulations without shortchanging Louisiana or any other state. Since these 1099 regulations were mandated by the new health care reform law, the Baucus Amendment is appropriately paid for with the savings created by the health care bill. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to repeal this reporting burden as quickly as possible.”

Current law requires all businesses to file a Form 1099 on payments made for services of $600 provided by independent contractors. Beginning in 2012, Congress expanded the existing requirements to payments made for goods in addition to services provided by corporations that cost $600 or more.

Both the Johanns and Baucus amendments would repeal the 2012 reporting requirements. To pay for the full repeal, however, the Johanns amendment would have rescinded $39 billion of unobligated, appropriated discretionary funds, except funds appropriated to the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Programs of importance to Louisiana that were at risk of losing their funding include:

  • The Coast Guard construction of ships and planes, including the National Security Cutter built in Mississippi, the Maritime Patrol Aircraft built in Alabama, and Fast Response Cutters built in Louisiana;
  • The FEMA Disaster Relief Fund which is still paying for Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas; and
  • The Section 8 tenant-based and Section 8 project-based rental assistance. These programs receive advanced appropriations to keep the program running through the end of the calendar year. If these funds were rescinded, there would be no funding to continue to provide housing for low-income families living in housing today.

The Baucus amendment would have been paid for by a reduction in the overall savings triggered by healthcare reform law. The Senate voted down the Johanns amendment 61-35. With Senator Landrieu voting for passage of the Baucus amendment, the measure failed 44-53.