Congressman hopes to have tax issue solution in place to avoid chaos in April.

Congressman Buck McKeon flew home over the weekend and found time to talk with reporters about the issues he and his fellow members of Congress are grappling with before the year ends in a couple of weeks.

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McKeon said that the only financial bill passed in this session was the Defense Appropriations Bill that supports Department of Defense programs and allows for the deployment of more than 20,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We learned from people in the last election that they want us to get our financial house in order,” McKeon said,  noting that 11 fiscal bills are awaiting approval by leadership in both the House and the Senate.

One of the critical bills pending is the Alternative Minimum Tax, initially instituted to tax the extremely rich who were not paying their fair share several years ago. With inflation, the numbers of people paying the tax grew and the Treasury Department has warned Congress if this is delayed any longer, 50 million taxpayers could be affected to the tune of  $75 billion.

“The average tax return last year was $2,300,” McKeon said. “That’s a mortgage payment to some people, it can pay for nursing care or help pull someone out of a financial crisis. Hopefully something can be done to extend the protection.”

McKeon said that legislation is being drafted to solidify the compromise between CEMEX and the City of Santa Clarita, which has been held up by Sen. Diane Feinstein, who had financial concerns about the effects of the compromise. The congressman hopes to have the legislation ready at the end of January.