2021 Accomplishments
Advocacy
- Facilitated the introduction of bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reduce the rate of the estate tax (Estate Tax Rate Reduction Act of 2021).
- Facilitated 61 meetings with members of Congress and/or their staff (see attached schedule of meetings) which consisted of members from 23 states. Of the offices met with, 21 were members of the House Ways and Means or Senate Finance committees and nine were members of House or Senate Small Business Committees. As part of these meetings, Brownstein lobbyist Russ Sullivan was sent to Phoenix to meet with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). These meetings resulted in five substantive provisions that would have severely affected families and their businesses being removed from the Build Back Better Act.
- Hosted annual supporters meeting in Washington, DC, including remarks from Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Jodey Arrington (R-TX). Members and supporters also had the opportunity to participate in 10 meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and/or their staff.
- Hosted four legislative update calls for supporters and members, including participation by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), various Congressional staff, and Frank Luntz, among other presenters.
- Sent five call-to-action emails, which resulted in more than 300 communications to Members of Congress.
Research
- Organized a national poll by Frank Luntz on voter attitudes regarding taxes, the wealthy, and family businesses.
- Facilitated Annual Family Business Survey, resulting in 172 respondents, three pop-up survey questions, and one member survey. Used the survey results in meetings with members of Congress and/or their staff.
- Completed research on family businesses to determine their economic impact- used the research in meetings with members of Congress and/or their staff.
- Supported and participated in the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, including the commissioning of an EY study that provided a macroeconomic analysis of the impact of eliminating step-up in basis.