Bill Text: TX HCR82 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to retain the tax exemption for municipal bonds.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-29 - Received from the House [HCR82 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR82-Introduced.html
| 85R12726 BPG-D | ||
| By: Turner | H.C.R. No. 82 | |
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| WHEREAS, Interest on municipal bonds has been excluded from | ||
| taxation since the enactment of the federal income tax in 1913; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Municipal bond tax exemptions provide state and | ||
| local governments with a subsidy to finance crucial infrastructure | ||
| projects; because municipal bonds are tax-exempt, investors are | ||
| willing to accept lower interest payments, thus reducing borrowing | ||
| costs for governments; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Approximately 6 percent of all bonds issued each | ||
| year in the United States are municipal bonds, and in 2016, state | ||
| and local governments issued nearly $424 billion in tax-exempt | ||
| bonds, representing a six-year high and a 12 percent increase over | ||
| 2015; governmental bonds typically fund schools, transportation | ||
| infrastructure, utilities, and other improvements, creating jobs | ||
| while improving the quality of life for area residents; and | ||
| WHEREAS, State and local governments make approximately 75 | ||
| percent, the overwhelming majority, of our nation's infrastructure | ||
| investments, and many of those investments are financed with | ||
| municipal bonds; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The tax exemption for municipal bonds allows the | ||
| federal government to support infrastructure investment in a manner | ||
| that minimizes federal bureaucracy and maximizes community | ||
| decision making; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Over the years, the municipal bond market has | ||
| offered greater predictability than most, and it holds tremendous | ||
| appeal for individual investors, especially those of retirement | ||
| age; municipal bonds are owned disproportionately by households, | ||
| rather than by banks and other financial institutions, and a | ||
| Brookings Institution study found that the average age of municipal | ||
| bondholders was 62; and | ||
| WHEREAS, If the tax exemption for municipal bonds were to be | ||
| repealed, state and local governments would have to offer higher | ||
| returns to continue to attract investors, and taxpayers would pay | ||
| more for important infrastructure projects; increased debt service | ||
| costs would result in fewer such projects in an era in which the | ||
| safety and competitiveness of the nation's infrastructure gives | ||
| cause for tremendous concern; and | ||
| WHEREAS, For more than a century, the highly efficient | ||
| municipal bond market has helped to spur vital infrastructure | ||
| investment and associated job creation, and eliminating the federal | ||
| tax exemption would jeopardize these low-risk investment | ||
| opportunities; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to retain the | ||
| tax exemption for municipal bonds; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
