This alert provides background information on the estate tax and 5 action steps you can take to help prevent repeal of the estate tax. Read through the alert and then contact your Senators through this legislative link -- the talking points included in this alert are also available there to provide suggestions for your letter or call to your Senators.

Estate tax repeal proponents, unwilling to postpone their agenda to eliminate the country’s most progressive tax, even in the face of an ever-increasing number of costly national priorities and an estimated $100 billion deficit for this fiscal year (see related story, this issue), have continued to push for permanent repeal at every opportunity.

As reported in the Washington Post on March 25, advocates of estate tax repeal have redirected their efforts to state legislatures, pressuring them to "update" their estate tax laws to reflect the changes implemented in last June’s $1.35 trillion tax cut.

A new National Priorities Project report highlights the cuts slated for state and local governments under the President’s FY 2003 budget proposal. These cuts will only further complicate matters for the vast majority of states that are already contending with budget crises. For more on the cuts and there state-by-state impact, see the full NPP analysis. The analysis will continue to be updated over the next 2 weeks, and readers are encouraged to check the NPP website if they do not see their program area covered in the analysis and tables.