Congressman Scott Garrett, (R-N.J.), becomes the first Representative of New Jersey and the Northeast to co-sponsor HR 25, the FairTax bill, in the U.S. House of Representatives, giving new hope to advocates of the legislation. 

Rep. Scott Garrett on the House floor
Rep. Scott Garrett on the House floor (CSPAN)
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John O'Rourke of Brick, a Board Member of FairTax New Jersey, described Garrett's support as a "historical event."

The FairTax legislation ends the taxation of personal, business, and corporate income by the federal government. It also eliminates payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), replacing those taxes with one national retail sales tax on new tangible goods and services. The regressive nature of the sales tax is corrected by the Family Consumption Allowance, which rebates the amount of FairTax each household will pay up to poverty-level spending.

With Garrett serving on the House Budget and Financial Services Committees, O'Rourke said his group is hopeful Garrett's leadership roles will influence other New Jersey Representatives to also support the FairTax bill.

"We feel with the national election coming up in 2016, a lot of people talk about tax reform. This is not only just tax reform, this is tax replacement, and Scott Garrett, in our opinion, has had the courage and the leadership to come out and to maybe go against the grain," said O'Rourke. He also noted former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee supports the FairTax and has been speaking about it at rallies.

"And we feel that if tax reform becomes an issue in this 2016 campaign, we feel that the FairTax will be among the main issues, because there is no Flat Tax movement in the country," added O'Rourke. He said there is one bill in Congress, the Freedom Flat Tax, that has about a dozen co-sponsors. "We have not only 70 in the House, but 8 on a companion bill in the Senate," he added.

 

 

 

 

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