Highlights:
2014: DeSantis Effectively Voted Against Providing A Tax Credit To Companies That Return Overseas Jobs To The U.S., And Against Prohibiting Companies That Move U.S. Jobs Overseas From Deducting The Move Costs From Their Taxes. In September 2014, DeSantis effectively voted against an amendment that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “would [have] allow[ed] businesses to claim a tax credit of up to 20 percent of expenses related to returning American jobs from overseas. It would [have] den[ied] tax deductions for the costs of sending American jobs overseas. It also would [have] prohibit[ed] U.S. companies from reincorporating overseas through an inversion if the combined foreign entity is managed and controlled in the U.S. and conducts a significant percentage of its business activities in the U.S. It also would [have] den[ied] the tax benefits in the [underlying] bill to inverted corporations.” The underlying bill, according to a separate Congressional Quarterly article, was a package of 15 bills that had already passed the House. Its “numerous tax provisions[] includ[e] those to repeal the 2.3% medical device tax included in the 2010 health care overhaul, and to make permanent the current ban on state and local taxation of Internet access, the research and development tax credit, the 50% depreciation rules for businesses and increased expensing limits for small businesses and farms, as well as certain rules for S-Corporations.” The amendment would have also required the House to consider several proposed pieces of legislation, including a minimum wage increase; the Paycheck Fairness Act; a student loan program allowing those with loans to refinance them at current interest rates, paid for with a so-called “Buffet Tax;” and a paid family sick leave requirement. The vote was on a motion to recommit the underlying bill and report it back with the specified amendment; the House rejected the motion by a vote of 191 to 218. [House Vote 512, 9/18/14; Congressional Quarterly, 9/15/14; Congressional Quarterly, 6/11/14; Congressional Record, 9/18/14; Tierney press release, 5/6/14; CRS Summary of H.R. 1286, 3/20/13]
2014: DeSantis Effectively Voted Against Denying Companies That Outsource Jobs Out Of The U.S. From Receiving Defense Department Contracts. In May 2014, DeSantis effectively voted against an amendment that, according to the Congressional Record, would have barred the Defense Department from “enter[ing] into any contract with an entity if the entity […] has outsourced work previously performed in the United States.” The amendment stated that “the term ‘outsourced’, with respect to an entity with employees performing work in the United States, means having fewer full-time equivalent employees in the United States and a larger number of such employees outside the United States on the last day of the calendar year compared to the first day of such calendar year.” In addition to the outsourcing prohibition, the proposed amendment to the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization bill would have ordered the Defense Department to require that any new department contracts set the minimum wage for any work performed on that contract at $10.10 an hour in 2015; required the Defense Secretary to ensure that women serving in the military are not discriminated against in combat or other military service; and forbidden the Defense Department from contracting with companies that do not provide their female employees with equal pay for equal work. It would also have, according to Congressional Quarterly, “require[d] the Defense Department's inspector general to investigate interest and fees charged on student loans made to members of the armed forces. It also would bar air carriers from charging fees for baggage checked by members of the armed forces who are deploying, returning, or traveling on official military orders.” The vote was on a motion to recommit the underlying bill with instructions to report it back with the specified amendment; the House rejected the motion by a vote of 194 to 227. [House Vote 239, 5/22/14; Congressional Record, 5/22/14; Executive Order 13658, as published in the Federal Register, 2/20/14; Congressional Quarterly, 5/22/14]
2014: DeSantis Voted Against Barring The Energy Department And Related Agencies From Awarding Contracts To Bermuda Or Cayman Island-Incorporated Companies Previously Incorporated In The United States. In July 2014, DeSantis voted against an amendment to the FY 2015 Energy-Water Appropriations bill, which, according to Congressional Quarterly, “would bar the use of funds provided in the bill for awarding contracts to corporations chartered or incorporated in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands that were previously incorporated in the United States.” The House agreed to the amendment by a vote of 221 to 200. Subsequently, the passed House the amended bill; but it died in the Senate. [House Vote 387, 7/10/14; Congressional Quarterly, 7/10/14; Congressional Actions, H. Amdt. 1012; Congressional Actions, H.R. 4923]