84R884 BPG-D
 
  By: Stephenson H.C.R. No. 27
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, History has demonstrated that the levying of income
  taxes gives government too much power over citizens, and
  accordingly, the nation's founding fathers did not impose a federal
  income tax in the United States Constitution; and
         WHEREAS, The nation's current income tax system, established
  via the enactment of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States
  Constitution, is unfair and inequitable, and it unnecessarily
  intrudes on the privacy and civil rights of U.S. citizens; it
  imposes unacceptable and needless administrative and compliance
  costs on individuals and businesses, and it requires individuals to
  prepare annual tax returns using many complicated forms, resulting
  in unintentional errors that are severely punished; in addition, it
  hides the true costs of government by embedding taxes in the costs
  of everything that Americans buy; compliance does not occur at
  adequate levels, which raises the tax burden on law-abiding
  citizens; and
         WHEREAS, Hindering economic growth, the current tax system
  diminishes the standard of living, impedes the international
  competitiveness of industry, and lowers productivity; it slows the
  capital formation necessary for real wages to steadily increase and
  reduces savings and investment by taxing the same income multiple
  times; moreover, it penalizes marriage and impedes upward social
  mobility; and
         WHEREAS, Federal payroll taxes, including social security
  and Medicare payroll taxes and self-employment taxes, destroy jobs
  by raising employment costs; these taxes lead to higher rates of
  unemployment and have a disproportionately adverse impact on
  lower-income Americans; and
         WHEREAS, Federal estate and gift taxes impose unacceptably
  high tax-planning costs on family-owned businesses and farms, and
  families are often forced to sell their holdings in order to pay
  them; furthermore, these taxes discourage capital formation and
  entrepreneurship, fostering the continued dominance of large
  enterprises over small, family-owned companies and farms; and
         WHEREAS, In The Federalist No.21, published in 1787,
  Alexander Hamilton wrote: "It is a signal advantage of taxes on
  articles of consumption, that they contain in their own nature a
  security against excess"; a broad-based national sales tax on goods
  and services purchased for final consumption would promote
  fairness, economic growth, and savings and investment; it would
  raise the standard of living and improve upward social mobility by
  enhancing productivity and international competitiveness and by
  reducing administrative burdens on the American taxpayer; at the
  same time, a national sales tax would respect the privacy interests
  and civil rights of taxpayers; such a tax would be similar in many
  respects to the sales and use taxes that are now authorized in 45 of
  the 50 states; and
         WHEREAS, Most of the practical experience in administering
  sales taxes is found at the state level; accordingly, a national
  retail sales tax could be efficiently implemented by fostering
  administration and collection of a federal sales tax at the state
  level, in return for a reasonable administration fee paid to the
  states; coordinating federal and state collection and enforcement
  efforts to the maximum extent possible would further contribute to
  the smooth transition to a national retail sales tax; while
  businesses would incur costs in collecting and remitting taxes,
  they would receive reasonable compensation for their efforts; and
         WHEREAS, In every respect, a national retail sales tax is
  more equitable and advantageous than the present system of relying
  on income taxes; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby urge the Congress of the United States to abolish the current
  income-based system of taxation, to enact a national retail sales
  tax, and to propose and submit to the states for ratification the
  repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States
  Constitution; 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.