Tax Reform Dead in ‘85, Dole Says: ‘Tell the People’

President Reagan’s tax reform plan is dead for this year because Congress is running out of time to act, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas said today.

“We ought to tell the American people that it’s not going to happen,” Dole told 650 editors and publishers at the American Magazine Conference.

“I’ve got to believe there are millions and millions and possibly billions of dollars that ought to be invested,” the Republican lawmaker said. “But those who want to invest and save don’t know what to do. They don’t know what the laws are going to be next year.”

Dole added, “We ought to make it definite very soon to all those investors out there that it’s not going to happen.” While the tax- reform proposal is one of President Reagan’s top priorities “it’s not No. 1 on anybody else’s fall offensive,” the senator said.

President Reagan had been invited to address the conference but couldn’t because of schedule conflicts.

In a taped message, Reagan thanked the Magazine Publishers Assn. for its help in “explaining the necessity of tax reform to the people of our nation. America’s people are more aware of these complex issues than ever before.”