Lawmaker Pushes Meal Deduction

ARLINGTON, Va. — A congressman who also is a trucking executive understands how to win passage of legislation that would speed up restoration of the 80% tax deduction for meals while truckers are on the road.

“The measure we introduced stands a good chance of passage if we lobby hard,” Rep. Michael “Mac” Collins said at a June 17 breakfast at American Trucking Associations’ Summer Leadership Meeting.

The third-term Republican from Georgia owns Collins Trucking Co., a small truckload carrier in Jackson that hauls logs, and is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Collins urged fellow industry executives to press their lawmakers to include the proposal in a tax bill his committee expects to vote on in July. The measure calls for restoration of the 80% deduction allowance on a faster pace than the current, 10-year phase in.

“There will be a tax bill,” he said. “What’s in it is dealer’s choice, and the dealer is committee chairman Bill Archer [R-Texas].”

Also, a congressional aide warned trucking officials to keep an eye on legislation imposing a national weight-distance tax.

Republican John Chafee, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee from Rhode Island, has said he will attempt to attach a weight-distance tax proposal to legislation expected to move this summer through his committee, which has jurisdiction over tax issues.

ATA officials said defeating the proposal is one of their top priorities.