By Nelson                                             S.C.R. No. 37
         77R1852 JXC-D                           
                                CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, Almost 90 percent of all health insurance is paid
 1-2     for by and through employer programs, providing the majority of
 1-3     American workers with affordable access to health care; and
 1-4           WHEREAS, Generous federal tax code provisions that make
 1-5     employee contributions to employer-provided health insurance fully
 1-6     deductible from federal individual income taxes allow employees
 1-7     participating in such plans to purchase the coverage they need in a
 1-8     cost-effective manner; and
 1-9           WHEREAS, Some employers benefit from the health insurance
1-10     they provide since the tax code also allows them to deduct the cost
1-11     of the health insurance they offer employees from their corporate
1-12     income taxes as a business expense; and
1-13           WHEREAS, Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to
1-14     participate in an employer-provided health plan, and those who
1-15     purchase private health insurance do not receive tax breaks of any
1-16     kind; for these individuals, a dollar in pretax wages may buy only
1-17     50 cents' worth of health insurance after federal, state, and local
1-18     taxes are taken out; and
1-19           WHEREAS, Congress has responded to this issue with the 1999
1-20     Omnibus Appropriations Act, which gives a 60 percent tax deduction
1-21     for insurance expenses to those who are self-employed; this
1-22     deduction is scheduled to rise to 100 percent by 2003; and
1-23           WHEREAS, For individuals who purchase private health
1-24     insurance and bear the full cost of a policy without the benefit of
 2-1     an employer's contributions, this deduction does little to make
 2-2     that private insurance affordable, since tax deductions provide a
 2-3     less substantial tax break than tax credits; while a tax deduction
 2-4     is subtracted from a person's income when calculating taxes, a tax
 2-5     credit is subtracted from the person's bottom line of taxes owed;
 2-6     and
 2-7           WHEREAS, Tax credits will give consumers more choice in
 2-8     health plans because employees would no longer be limited to
 2-9     insurance offered by employers; furthermore, consumers who bought
2-10     their own private health insurance could maintain their coverage
2-11     even if they changed jobs without any lapse in coverage; now,
2-12     therefore, be it
2-13           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-14     hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
2-15     provide tax credits to individuals buying private health insurance;
2-16     and, be it further
2-17           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
2-18     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
2-19     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
2-20     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
2-21     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
2-22     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
2-23     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.