BY OLYMPIA MEOLA

The dean of Virginia’s Congressional delegation, Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10^th, voted “present” on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s business tax-deduction measure — as opposed to a yes or no vote – to draw attention to his desire for broader tax reform and deficit control measures.

“We need to simplify the tax code to lower tax rates,” Wolf said in a statement explaining his action. “But we need to do it through real, comprehensive reform, not through a piecemeal approach that makes it too politically easy to ignore our overall finances.

“I vote present to bring attention to this point.” 

Cantor’s bill, estimated to cost $46 billion, would allow businesses with fewer than 500 employees to reduce the amount of income they pay taxes on by 20 percent.

Cantor has said he wants to see tax reform occur but that in the meantime, his measure would help job creators.

Wolf, who has criticized efforts from both sides of the aisle, said in his statement that he doesn’t sign political pledges to special interest groups and that his only pledge “is the oath of office I take on the first day of each Congress.”

“And that is why I cannot partake in this political vote that would further add to the deficit without dealing with the underlying drivers of our deficit and debt.”