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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Memorial 1
A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2
urging Congress to add spaceports as a qualified tax -3
exempt category of private activity bonds. 4
5
WHEREAS, commercial investment in space and space 6
transportation is driving the requirements for spaceport sites, 7
operating environments, and infrastructure, and 8
WHEREAS, this state has acted decisively to integrate space 9
transportation into the fabric of its statewide strategic 10
intermodal system, and 11
WHEREAS, in 1999, state leaders made a landmark decision to 12
designate space as an official mode of transportation and 13
spaceports as the associated transportation facilities, which 14
gave space standing within the Department of Transportation 15
similar to that of other long -established modes of 16
transportation such as airports and docks and wharfs, and 17
WHEREAS, space is not simply a program, it is a collection 18
of high-value destinations for freight and people, and these 19
destinations require safe, reliable, and sustainable 20
transportation operating on market -driven schedules, and 21
WHEREAS, in order for this state to become the planet's 22
premiere transportation hub for global space commerce; to 23
facilitate the logistics and transport of commodities, 24
materials, human crew, and robotic systems to operate facilities 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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in various orbits, at earth -lunar waypoints, and on the Moon; 26
and to become the primary port of entry into earth's marketplace 27
for products from space, spacepor ts should qualify as private 28
activity bonds financing -exempt facilities under the Internal 29
Revenue Code, and 30
WHEREAS, this qualification will encourage more investment 31
in aerospace infrastructure, ensuring that this state remains at 32
the forefront of the s pace economy, and 33
WHEREAS, in the face of growing competition from China and 34
others, the aggressive development of infrastructure in Florida, 35
the dominant state in the commercial space economy, is key to 36
maintaining the United States' leadership in space, and 37
WHEREAS, currently, certain parts of operations at airports 38
and docks and wharfs qualify for tax -exempt financing, NOW, 39
THEREFORE, 40
41
Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 42
43
That the Congress of the United States is urged to ad d 44
spaceports as a qualified tax -exempt category of private 45
activity bonds. 46
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch 47
copies of this memorial to the President of the United States, 48
the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 49
United States House of Representatives, and each member of the 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 51