By: Stephenson H.C.R. No. 79
HOUSE 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 85th 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.