By:  Craddick                                        H.C.R. No. 125
       73R8819 MPC-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The Clinton administration's budget proposal for
    1-2  fiscal year 1994 includes a provision that would increase the
    1-3  inland waterways fuel tax by $1 per gallon; and
    1-4        WHEREAS, A raise in the inland waterways fuel tax from 19
    1-5  cents to $1.19 per gallon would mean a 500-percent tax increase for
    1-6  the approximately 800 barge and towing companies constituting the
    1-7  United States inland water transportation industry; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, This tax would be imposed on an industry that
    1-9  employs 180,000 people nationwide and hauls 15 percent of the
   1-10  nation's freight, 30 percent of the nation's petroleum and
   1-11  petroleum products, one-fourth of all coal, and over half of the
   1-12  nation's export grain; and
   1-13        WHEREAS, Texas is the leading maritime state in the nation,
   1-14  with 75 percent of Texas goods shipped by water and 20 percent of
   1-15  the state's gross product linked to waterways; and
   1-16        WHEREAS, If enacted by the United States Congress, the tax
   1-17  would drastically increase prices on goods shipped through the
   1-18  Houston Ship Channel and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, creating
   1-19  highly detrimental consequences for the Texas economy; and
   1-20        WHEREAS, Because Texas petrochemical plants rely heavily on
   1-21  barges to supply feedstock and to move finished products, a tax
   1-22  increase of this magnitude would jeopardize the international
   1-23  competitiveness of the state's refineries; and
   1-24        WHEREAS, The proposed increase in the inland waterways fuel
    2-1  tax would mean lost jobs for Texans, the elimination of spin-off
    2-2  employment opportunities, and increased prices for consumers on
    2-3  everything from livestock feed to petrochemical products; and
    2-4        WHEREAS, In a nonbinding resolution, the United States Senate
    2-5  recently voted to remove the inland waterways fuel tax from the
    2-6  budget package, but the House of Representatives included the
    2-7  provision in its adopted budget resolution; and
    2-8        WHEREAS, The Texas inland barge and towing industry is the
    2-9  most economical, safe, and efficient mode of surface transportation
   2-10  available and is a vital component in helping Texas goods to be
   2-11  competitive in today's global market; the administration's proposed
   2-12  tax increase would impose an overly harsh burden on the economy of
   2-13  Texas; now, therefore, be it
   2-14        RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas
   2-15  hereby strongly urge the Congress of the United States not to adopt
   2-16  the administration's proposed inland waterways fuel tax increase;
   2-17  and, be it further
   2-18        RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
   2-19  copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
   2-20  the speaker of the house of representatives and president of the
   2-21  senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the
   2-22  Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
   2-23  resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
   2-24  memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.