Bill Text: TX SCR12 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Urging Congress to amend the Internal Revenue Code to make spaceports eligible for tax-exempt private activity bonds.
Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2025-03-19 - Co-author authorized [SCR12 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-SCR12-Comm_Sub.html
| By: Hinojosa of Nueces | S.C.R. No. 12 | |
| (In the Senate - Filed February 4, 2025; February 7, 2025, | ||
| read first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development; | ||
| March 18, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5, | ||
| Nays 0; March 18, 2025, sent to printer.) | ||
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| WHEREAS, Since the "space race" of the 1960s, Texas has been | ||
| at the forefront of space exploration, discovery, and innovation, | ||
| and the state is sure to play an instrumental role in defining the | ||
| next phase of American involvement in space; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Texas is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space | ||
| Center as well as more than 2,000 aerospace establishments; during | ||
| the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature, the Texas Space | ||
| Commission was established to strengthen the state's leadership in | ||
| aerospace activity, and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space | ||
| Economy Consortium was launched to serve as a forum for higher | ||
| education and industry experts seeking to advance the state's role | ||
| in space operations; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the | ||
| Texas Economic Development Corporation recognized Texas as a | ||
| powerhouse in the rapidly expanding private space sector; | ||
| commercial investment in space transportation has driven the need | ||
| for spaceport sites, operating environments, and infrastructure, | ||
| and Texas ranks second in the nation in the number of spaceport | ||
| locations; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Tax-exempt private activity bonds currently finance | ||
| a wide range of facilities, including airports, docks, and wharves, | ||
| which, like spaceports, serve as hubs for the transportation of | ||
| people and freight; the qualification of spaceports for tax-exempt | ||
| private activity bonds would encourage more investment in aerospace | ||
| infrastructure, benefiting both Texas and the nation as a whole; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, The United States cannot afford to fall behind in | ||
| the highly competitive field of space operations, and making | ||
| spaceports eligible for tax-exempt private activity bonds would | ||
| help to ensure that the nation maintains its leadership in space | ||
| commerce; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to amend the | ||
| Internal Revenue Code to make spaceports eligible for tax-exempt | ||
| private activity 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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