Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) didn’t get a chance to voice her concerns about the medical device tax during yesterday’s Senate hearing, taking instead to Twitter to express her opposition in 140 characters or less.
Fellow Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Dan Coats (R-Ind.) each took turns at the podium decrying the medical device tax and calling for its repeal during a Senate hearing on the new continuing budget resolution initiative. Meanwhile, Ayotte sent a series of tweets about the harm the tax could do to innovation and business in the Granite State.
Shortly after the presentations, the Senate passed a non-binding amendment to repeal the medical device tax, which Ayotte also touted on Twitter.
"Sen voted 79-20 to provide for repeal of med device tax-a step in the rt direction. I will continue fight to roll back this job-killing tax," she tweeted.
The measure, proposed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), is a non-binding amendment contained in a the Senate’s continuing budget resolution, but the largely symbolic win may be an important step forward for opponents of the medical device tax.
Ayotte has stumped against the levy before. Nearly a year ago to the day, she reaffirmed her commitment to repealing the levy during a tour of medtech companies in New Hampshire, calling the tax "burdensome" and vowing to support efforts to strike the measure.
In tweets sent last night, Ayotte echoed some of her prior remarks, calling the medical device a threat to good jobs and warning that small companies would be hardest hit by the tax. Her remarks were practically a live blog of the Senate’s consideration of medical device tax repeal, bookending the debate as well as the vote to pass the repeal amendment:
"On Senate floor now pushing for repeal of Obamacare’s ‘medical device tax’"
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 21, 2013
"NH’s med device manufacturers employ thousands of Granite Staters – quality, well-paying jobs. Med device tax will threaten these jobs"
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 21, 2013
"Corflex in Manchester is a small thriving med device co – their balance sheet shows med dev tax will turn them from profitability to losses"
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 21, 2013
"Visited Smiths Med in Keene last yr, employs 100s. They told me repealing med device excise tax is abt improving patient care & jobs"
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 21, 2013
"Small med device cos — such as those in NH — stand to get hit hardest. More costs will make it harder for them to sprout up & make a go"
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 21, 2013
"Med device tax is essentially a tax on innovation"
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 21, 2013
"Sen voted 79-20 to provide for repeal of med device tax-a step in the rt direction. I will continue fight to roll back this job-killing tax."
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 22, 2013
"So glad amendment on medical device tax repeal I cosponsored passed on the budget resolution 79-20. We have to repeal this job killing tax!"
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) March 22, 2013
