U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have joined 43 colleagues to reintroduce a bill they maintain would establish marriage equality within the tax code.
The Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act protects LGBTQ+ Americans by removing gender-specific tax code marriage references.
“Marriage equality is the law of the land, but the tax code still reflects the discrimination of yesteryear,” Wyden, Senate Finance Committee chairman, said. “It’s long past time for that to change. Recent history has proven that the Supreme Court is perfectly willing to uproot legal precedent and defy the will of large majorities of the American people in ways that roll back key individual rights. The Congress cannot take issues like marriage equality for granted. We have a responsibility to protect all aspects of marriage equality, including the economic benefits, in black letter law.”
The lawmakers cited the Windsor ruling in which 10 years ago the Supreme Court struck down the section of the Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman – adding two years later the court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage by striking down state-level bans on such marriages.
“This bipartisan legislation takes an important step towards modernizing our tax code to reflect the equal rights and dignity that all married couples enjoy under the law, including the Respect for Marriage Act that I co-authored last year,” Collins said. “This bill is another important step to promote equality and prevent discrimination.”