The latest setback for repeal advocates came June 8 in the Senate, when they came up three votes short of the 60 needed to block a filibuster on a permanent repeal bill. That outcome indicated that permanent repeal again was unlikely to clear the Senate this year.
The new vehicle is a bill introduced June 19 by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.). As of Jan. 1, 2010, the Thomas proposal would raise the exemption from inheritance levies to $5 million. The effective exemption for 2006 is $2 million. Under current law, that exemption is slated to rise to $3.5 million in 2009.