Tax Reform

Social Security:: International Trade:: Healthcare/ Wealthfare Reform:: Tax Reform

A strong proponent of fiscal responsibility, Representative Matsui was a leader on tax issues in the House. He helped create the Research and Development Tax Credit in 1981 to fuel innovation in the American economy and has been part of a bipartisan coalition ensuring its extension, while also calling for Congress to make the credit permanent. He was also part of the Committee effort in 1986 that resulted in total reform of the tax code, and had used that expertise in his advocacy to bring balance back to the federal budget today. In the same spirit of tax equity, Matsui was instrumental in the 1993 expansion of the Earned-Income Tax Credit for working poor families with children.

Frequently traveling with detailed charts and graphs to explain the nuances of federal budgeting, Matsui gained a reputation among both his congressional colleagues and constituents for his thoughtful, intelligent, intellectually-honest approach to federal fiscal policy. In recent years, Representative Matsui has supported the spirit of tax relief, while consistently opposing tax deferral schemes that simply burden future generations with debt.

Matsui is the ranking member of the ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax, and he is California's only Democratic congressman with direct legislative jurisdiction over international trade. Matsui has in general been an advocate of free markets among international countries.