Bill Text: TX HCR82 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Urging Congress to retain the tax exemption for municipal bonds.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

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
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         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  repealed, state and local governments would have to offer higher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.
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