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INTRODUCTION OF THE BICYCLE COMMUTER ACT OF 2021
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HON. EARL BLUMENAUER
of oregon
in the house of representatives
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I introduced the Bicycle Commuter Act of 2021. This legislation passed the House last session in Section 90436 of the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2, 116th Cong.) and would reinstate and improve the bicycle commuter tax benefit.
The bicycle is the most efficient form of urban transportation ever devised. Cycling reduces carbon emissions, provides enormous physical and mental health benefits, and is one of the most cost-effective modes of transportation available. Communities across the country have realized these benefits and substantially invested in building better bike networks and improving facilities for biking to work. These investments are one of the reasons that rates of biking to work have increased by more than one-third since 2000. Still, however, only 0.51 percent of workers biked to work in 2019.
Despite these impressive developments, there is no commuter tax benefit for biking to work--like we have for parking and transit. First enacted in 2009, the bicycle commuter benefit was a tax benefit that employers could offer to provide a reimbursement of up to $20/month for expenses relating to bicycle commuting expenses. But if an employee elected to take advantage of the bicycle commuting reimbursement, they were not eligible to receive transit or parking commuter benefits. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the bicycle commuting reimbursement benefit through 2025, taking away a valuable financial incentive for people who choose to bike to work.
With more employees choosing to bike to work, it is critical that Congress reinstates the bicycle commuter benefit and uses this opportunity to improve the benefit to reflect present-day commuting options. The Bicycle Commuter Act of 2021 reinstates the bicycle commuter benefit and changes the structure of the benefit by making it a pre-tax benefit, allowing employees to receive a higher benefit amount, allowing the benefit to be used with parking and transit, and adding bikeshare and electric bikes as an eligible expense.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate to enact this legislation and provide Americans with cleaner, more efficient ways of commuting to work.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 12
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