Landrieu offers a bill to change 1099 provision

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has supported a repeal of the 1099 requirement and said a Democratic approach would create more confusion. 

“Chamber of Commerce, I know you’re watching, I’ve heard you,” Landrieu said. 

Earlier today, the Senate voted against Democratic and Republican amendments that would make changes to the 1099 requirement in the healthcare law that would raise an estimated $17.1 billion in revenue to pay for it. 

The Senate first voted, 46-52, on a Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) amendment that would have repealed the provision and paid for it by lowering the affordability exemption for the new individual mandate from 8 percent to 5 percent, making fewer people subject to the individual health insurance mandate. The amendment also proposed a $15 billion fund for wellness programs not be funded until 2018. 

The second vote, on a similar amendment by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), also failed to gain the 60 votes needed to move forward, failing 56-42. Nelson’s provision would have changed the threshold from $600 to $5,000. 

Nelson’s alternative was paid for by repealing tax cuts for the five largest oil companies, specifically, Section 199 of the tax code, which currently allows these corporations to deduct 6 percent of their income from oil-and-gas production from their tax liability, effective Dec. 31, 2010. This repeal would only apply to the five largest corporations with more than $1 billion of before-tax income.