Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland recently wrote a letter Read the letter here to MACo President Rick Pollitt on the municipal bonds tax exemption. President Pollitt reached out to the members of the Maryland Congressional Delegation in a joint letter with Maryland Association of Boards of Education President Rodger Janssen Read the letter here on the importance of maintaining the tax exemption to support school construction funding and other local infrastructure.

In his letter, Congressman Harris describes in detail the potential negative effects of the proposal the remove or scale back the tax exemption on municipal bonds and promises to “fight against efforts that raise the net tax burden faced by American families and employers.”

The Congressman notes his disappointment in the proposed budget and also the possible economic repercussions of removing the municipal bond tax exemption,

According to a study prepared for the National League of Cities. . .if the deduction had been capped at 28% as proposed. . . the reduced investment would have annually supported 311, 736 jobs, $16.4 billion in labor income, and $24.7 billion in gross domestic product.” Further, if the deduction was struck altogether, “a total of 891,962 jobs, $46.9 billion in labor income and $70.7 billion in gross domestic product would have been lost.”

The Congressman encouraged MACo to keep in touch with him on this and other issues.  “As a father of five who recognizes the utmost importance of investing in school construction,” the Congressman writes, “I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me on this important issue.”

For more information, see the full text of the letter and our previous post, Counties & Schools Urge Congress: Protect Municipal Bonds