By Grusendorf H.C.R. No. 198
77R8663 RVH-D
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-1 WHEREAS, The Congressional Budget Office has projected annual
1-2 federal budget surpluses throughout the coming decade and a total
1-3 accumulated surplus of $5.6 trillion by 2011; given the extent of
1-4 such government surpluses, the president of the United States has
1-5 submitted a budget that incorporates numerous tax relief measures
1-6 intended to return a significant portion of that surplus to the
1-7 taxpaying public; and
1-8 WHEREAS, Expected to provide approximately $1.6 trillion of
1-9 tax relief over the next 10 years, the president's budget includes
1-10 proposals to reduce the marginal income tax rates, double the child
1-11 tax credit, reduce the marriage penalty tax, eliminate the death
1-12 tax, expand charitable deductions to non-itemizers, and make the
1-13 Research and Experimentation (R&E) tax credit permanent; and
1-14 WHEREAS, The tax plan replaces the current marginal income
1-15 tax rates of 15, 28, 31, and 39.6 percent with a simplified rate
1-16 structure of 10, 15, 25, and 33 percent, a reflection of the belief
1-17 that no one should pay more than a third of the money they earn in
1-18 federal income taxes; a typical family of four will be able to keep
1-19 at least $1,600 more of its own money, and every American who pays
1-20 an income tax will receive a tax cut, with the poorest of families
1-21 receiving the largest percent tax reduction; and
1-22 WHEREAS, The president's tax plan doubles the child tax
1-23 credit to $1,000 per child and applies the credit to the
1-24 Alternative Minimum Tax; in effect, the new 10 percent income tax
2-1 bracket, combined with the doubling of the child tax credit for
2-2 low-income families with two children would decrease the taxes
2-3 these families would otherwise pay by 40 percent; this same
2-4 combination of tax breaks would reduce the tax burden by nearly 50
2-5 percent for low-income families with one child; and
2-6 WHEREAS, Under the current tax structure, married couples
2-7 often end up paying more in income taxes than they did on the same
2-8 total income before they were married; the president's tax plan
2-9 reduces the so-called marriage penalty tax by reinstating the 10
2-10 percent deduction that would allow the lower-earning spouse to
2-11 deduct up to $3,000 of the first $30,000 of income; and
2-12 WHEREAS, The tax plan eliminates the death tax, an unfair tax
2-13 on income that has already been taxed, making it difficult for
2-14 families to pass on their businesses, farms, or hard-earned savings
2-15 to subsequent generations; the tax plan also expands the charitable
2-16 deduction to taxpayers who do not itemize their tax returns by
2-17 allowing them to deduct their charitable gifts, possibly leading to
2-18 an increase in charitable giving; and
2-19 WHEREAS, The tax relief package also makes the Research and
2-20 Experimentation (R&E) tax credit permanent, so as to give
2-21 businesses the incentive to initiate long-term research projects
2-22 that could spur the next wave of technological breakthroughs that
2-23 will benefit future generations of Americans and sustain the
2-24 competitive edge our country enjoys in the global economy; and
2-25 WHEREAS, The $1.6 trillion tax cut, which redresses several
2-26 inequities in the tax code, is reasonable because of the unique
2-27 fiscal conditions that can be attributed to the existence of budget
3-1 surpluses and the accelerated pace of debt reduction that has
3-2 occurred since 1998, the availability of nearly $1 trillion in
3-3 contingency funds, and the projected budget surplus of $5.6
3-4 trillion; the tax cut is a worthy plan because it recognizes that
3-5 the surplus is not the government's money--it is the people's
3-6 money, and the people are deserving of relief from taxation; now,
3-7 therefore, be it
3-8 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
3-9 hereby urge the Congress of the United States to support the tax
3-10 proposals of the president of the United States; and, be it further
3-11 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
3-12 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
3-13 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
3-14 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
3-15 the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
3-16 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
3-17 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.