Charles Symington, senior vice president for government affairs and federal relations for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, has said independent property-casualty insurance agents support the bill because it will “provide certainty and ease the significant tax burdens as our members look to pass along their businesses to family members.”

Life insurance industry groups, however, support more modest reform, because their sector sells products designed to cushion the cost of estate taxes on families.

The so-called “trifecta” bill included provisions that would have extended many popular federal tax breaks and raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour, from $5.15, for most workers at large and midsize employers, along with the proposed cuts in the estate tax.

The estate tax provision would have eliminated the estate tax for all but the most wealthy people, according to comments made by Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and prime author of the bill when it passed the House floor early July 29.

During floor debate, Sen. Frist renamed the measure the “Family Prosperity Act.” In response, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Senate minority whip, said the estate tax reduction would only benefit roughly 8,000 families who are “so well off” and have enjoyed a comfortable life due to their fortunes, and pushed through the “outrageous legislation” that is the trifecta bill. “This trifecta is a high stakes gamble with America's future,” he said.