One of the first items the Senate is expected to take up when it returns in September is a House-passed bill to permanently repeal the estate tax, and it is quite likely that this repeal bill will ultimately serve as a vehicle for an estate tax reform proposal by Senator Kyl. In order to consider the House-passed bill, the Senate first needs to adopt a motion to proceed to the bill. Under Senate parliamentary rules, it requires 60 votes to “invoke cloture” and vote on this motion. Defeating cloture is the key step to block efforts to repeal the estate tax or prevent enactment of an irresponsible estate tax reform. Now is the time to make calls to your Senators and urge them to:

1. Vote NO on cloture on the motion to proceed to the estate tax bill; and 2. Oppose any reform effort, such as the Kyl proposal to link the estate tax rate to the capital gains rate, that does not preserve a major portion of the estate tax revenue.

For more information: Read these Talking Points