The U.S. Senate is expected this afternoon to take up H.R. 4, the Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act, which is a very long title for the bill to repeal the ridiculous filing requirement included in last year’s health care bill.

The National Association of Manufacturers last week sent Senators a “Key Vote” letter urging their support for an amendment by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) that mirrors H.R. 4. From the NAM letter:

The Johanns amendment would repeal expanded reporting requirements under Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). Section 9006 requires businesses to file an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form 1099 for all purchases of property and services in excess of $600. Previously, businesses were required to report only purchases of service and only from non-corporate entities. The new language essentially requires 1099 reporting for all transactions in excess of $600.

This reporting requirement is extremely onerous — especially for small manufacturers. The NAM supports efforts to ensure tax compliance, but not at the expense of manufacturers that are following the law.

The House passed H.R. 4 on March 3 by a vote of 314-112. The Senate has already cast this vote, more or less, when Senators voted 81-17 in early February to pass an amendment sponsored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to S. 223, the FAA reauthorization bill.

So the clear majority is there for fixing this ill-conceived, anti-small-business provision in the health care law. Let’s pass this bill and send it to the President.

UPDATE (1:14 p.m.): The bill has passed, 87-12. We’ll post the roll call vote once it’s available. (UPDATE II: And here it is.)

The bill now goes to the White House for President Obama’s signature.