Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand visits Rochester area to stump for R&D tax credit
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand toured one of the area’s technology incubators today as she was in the Rochester region to push for changes in the federal tax credits that go toward companies’ research and development efforts.
Section 41 of the U.S. tax code, the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit, started in 1981 and has been kept alive with 14 one- and two-year extensions since then.
Gillibrand said she is pushing for making the tax credit permanent, boosting the amount of the credit and for simplifying the paperwork needed for applying for the credit.
The tax credit has been “pivotal” for most of the tech companies that have been created out of University of Rochester research, UR President Joel Seligman said. And incentives for investment in R&D have to be a priority if the nation is to keep ahead of the rest of the globe in technology development, he said.
Gillibrand also was scheduled to stump for the tax credit during stops today in Buffalo and Syracuse.
Her stop in Rochester in large part revolved around Saturday’s mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that left six dead and a congresswoman critically wounded. Prior to touring the Lenox Technology Center in Henrietta, Gillibrand led a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting.
While the motives of the shooter are unknown, she decried the general level of political discourse in the nation.
“We have to treat people with respect,” she said. “The vitriol has reached a level that is too high.”
While Gillibrand declined to discuss what security measures she takes when at public events, she said she did not have concerns for her own safety.
A pair of Monroe County’s Sheriff’s Office vehicles, including one with a canine, were parked outside the Henrietta business incubator prior to Gillibrand’s visit.
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