NACo Action Alert on Municipal Bonds

Urge Your House Members to Sign Municipal Bond Dear Colleague Letter

U.S. Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) are circulating a bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter to protect tax-exempt municipal bonds in any future tax reform or infrastructure measures. The letter will be sent to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Mass.).

Action Needed

Call and email your House members today and urge them to sign on to the municipal bond dear colleague letter. The current cosigners include: Reps. Hultgren (R-Ill.), Ruppersberger (D-Md.), Napolitano (D-Calif.), Messer (R-Ind.), Brooks (R-Ala.) and Capuano (D-Mass.).

If your member is a Republican, have their staff contact David Heitlinger in Rep. Hultgren’s office at David.Heitlinger@mail.house.gov

If your member is a Democrat, have them contact Bill Hulse in Rep. Ruppersberger’s office at Bill.Hulse@mail.house.gov

Visit NACo’s County Explorer to download your state municipal bond profile and share this with your members of Congress and their staff.

Background

As tax reform and infrastructure discussions advance on Capitol Hill, proposals that would cap certain tax benefits, including the exemption for municipal bond interest, continue to be offered as a way to help address the federal debt and deficit. The House Ways and Means Committee continues to work on a tax reform package and could finalize details in the weeks and months ahead.

Tax-exempt municipal bonds have been a fundamental feature of the U.S. tax code since 1913. They remain the primary method used by states and local governments to finance public capital improvements and public infrastructure projects that are essential to creating jobs, sustaining economic growth and improving the quality of life for Americans in every corner of this country.

Between 2003 and 2012, counties, states and other localities invested $3.2 trillion in infrastructure through long-term tax-exempt municipal bonds, 2.5 times more than the federal investment. During that decade, $514 billion of primary and secondary schools were built with financing from tax exempt bonds; nearly $288 billion of financing went to general acute-care hospitals; nearly $258 billion to water and sewer facilities; nearly $178 billion to roads, highways, and streets; nearly $147 billion to public power projects; and $105.6 billion to mass transit.

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