Husband of Rep. Solis, Labor nominee, settles tax liens
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Sam Sayyad, the husband of Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., President Obama's nominee to head the Department of Labor, has reportedly settled outstanding tax liens against his business, the administration reported. Here, Solis is seen speaking at a luncheon in Washington on Jan. 18.
WASHINGTON — The husband of President Obama's Labor secretary nominee paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business, the Obama administration told USA TODAY this afternoon.
The disclosure came shortly before a scheduled 2 p.m. meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will vote on Rep. Hilda Solis' nomination as labor secretary. The hearing was postponed; no reason was immediately revealed.
Los Angeles County records showed 15 outstanding state and county tax liens against Sam Sayyad and his auto repair business, totaling $7,630. Two other liens worth $981 were released in 1999 after Sayyad repaid the taxes owed, according to county records.
Solis' financial disclosures list Sayyad's business, Sam's Foreign and Domestic Auto Center, as one of the couple's main assets, worth between $50,000 and $100,000. The disclosure form Solis filed after her nomination also lists bank accounts containing between $250,000 and $500,000.
Solis and Sayyad were unaware of the liens until USA TODAY asked about them Tuesday, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He said Sayyad paid about $6,400 to Los Angeles County on Wednesday to settle the liens, but he plans to appeal.
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Vietor said Sayyad believes he had already paid all of his taxes in full. He said Solis had no reason to know of the liens because her husband's business is a sole proprietorship.
Personal tax problems have tripped up three of President Obama's nominees for top administration jobs. Two nominees withdrew on Tuesday over tax issues, including Tom Daschle, Obama's choice head the Health and Human Services Department. The other withdrawal was chief performance officer nominee Nancy Killeher, who had a $947 tax lien filed against her in Washington four years ago for not paying unemployment compensation taxes for a household employee. She paid the debt less than six months later, District of Columbia records show.
Committee Republicans have held up Solis' nomination since she appeared before the committee last month, in part because of questions about her service as an unpaid board member and treasurer of a pro-union nonprofit, American Rights at Work. The group's disclosure reports with the Senate say it spent $110,000 in 2007 and $200,000 in 2008 on lobbying, primarily to support legislation Solis co-sponsored that's designed to make it easier for unions to organize.
Solis did not list her board membership as required on her House financial disclosures. In written responses to questions from Republican committee members, Solis said the omission was "an unintentional oversight" she had corrected last month by amending her reports with the House clerk's office.
A spokesman for the panel's top Republican, Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, said Enzi is "reviewing those responses carefully." The spokesman, Michael Mahaffey, said he could not comment on Solis' personal finances.
Anthony Coley, a spokesman for committee chairman Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., did not respond to repeated messages seeking comment.
County records show that all of the tax liens are addressed to Sayyad at his business address, and seven list the repair shop as a debtor.
Eleven of the tax liens seek delinquent county taxes on unsecured property, which includes business equipment other than real estate. Two liens, from 1994 and 1996, are for $1,255 in unpaid state sales taxes. The remaining two, from 1994 and 1995, are for $786 in unpaid county health and safety permit fees.
Some of the liens were more recent. For example, two of the tax liens for unsecured property were issued in the past four months: One for $97 in December and another for $701 in November, the records show.
A tax lien is a legal claim filed by the government against the property of a person or business to collect unpaid taxes or fees.
Contributing: Matt Krantz in Los Angeles
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This woman is going to push Card Check and drive millions more to the unemployment line and welfare.
