Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) is hoping to garner the support of new Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in efforts to repeal the medical device tax.
In an open letter issued yesterday, Donnelly congratulated Wyden on his new role and voiced concerns that the medtech tax is hurting American innovation.
"Already, the tax has negatively impacted innovation and has limited job creation at a time when we should focus on protecting American jobs and strengthening the recovering economy," Donnelly wrote. "I have seen first-hand the effects of the tax on my state, where a number of companies have foregone expansion and others have contemplated moving jobs outside the United States."
Wyden has been sympathetic to repeal efforts in the past, voting last spring in favor of a symbolic budget amendment to strike the tax.
"He doesn’t agree with the device tax as a policy and he’s always been focused on innovation as a concept, due to the industries he has back in his home state," medical device lobby AdvaMed government affairs president J.C. Scott told MassDevice.com earlier this year. "Regardless of how a repeal of the medical device tax moves in the future – whether it’s through a committee process, an amendment on a bill going through committee, or something that happens on the floor of the Senate – as chairman of the finance committee, chairman Wyden is certainly going to have a role in whatever that decision is, as to whether or not to have a vote on the device tax."
Sen. Donnelly also represents a state with a big stake in the outcome of the medical device tax. Indiana companies and government officials have been vocal activists for repealing the medical device tax, saying it threatens the state’s 20,000 medtech jobs.
"I support tax policies that promote American jobs and innovation, and I look forward to working with you and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this important issue," Donnelly wrote to Wyden.
Donnelly has previously called himself a "champion" of the medical device industry, highlighting his efforts to repeal the tax during a 2012 Senate race in his home state.
