United for a Fair Economy has just come out with a background piece analyzing the four estate tax votes held in the Senate on March 23. The votes show reduced Senate support for repeal of the tax, compared with previous votes on the issue.

The findings:

• ten Senators took new positions on the estate tax, supporting estate tax reform rather than repeal or opposing repeal for the first time:
  • Baucus (D-MT), Kyl (R-AZ), Lincoln (D-AR), Lugar (R-IN), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR), Stevens (R-AK), Voinovich (R-OH), Warner (R-VA)
• a majority of Senators now supports reducing the estate tax only if it does not increase the deficit
• all the newly elected Democratic Senators opposed ending the estate tax, and all opposed reducing the estate tax if the change would add to the deficit