HM 685

1
House Memorial
2A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3urging Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate.
4
5     WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative
6Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free
7markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty,
8and
9     WHEREAS, the combined United States average federal-state
10corporate income tax rate is over 39 percent, according to the
11Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD),
12meaning the United States imposes the second-highest overall
13statutory corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, much
14higher than the OECD average of 25 percent, and
15     WHEREAS, effective United States corporate tax rates are
16out of step with the rest of the world, with studies estimating
17the United States tax is between 4 and 17 percentage points
18higher than the averages of other countries, according to a Tax
19Foundation survey, and
20     WHEREAS, the federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent
21undermines the ability of every state in the nation to compete
22against lower-tax nations such as Canada, China, Great Britain,
23Ireland, Korea, and Singapore, and
24     WHEREAS, 75 nations have cut their corporate taxes since
252007, making it increasingly difficult for the United States to
26attract new business investment and jobs, and
27     WHEREAS, corporate taxes have been identified by the OECD
28as the most harmful tax for long-term economic growth by
29reducing investment, entrepreneurship, productivity, and wages,
30and
31     WHEREAS, according to the United States Census Bureau,
32federal corporate income tax collections in 2008 amounted to
33over $2,000 for every American household, a tax that is borne by
34every American in the form of lower wages, higher prices, or
35lower dividends, and
36     WHEREAS, while many federal officials have identified
37corporate tax competitiveness as a serious problem, the Federal
38Government, as of yet, has no official policy regarding United
39States tax competitiveness, NOW, THEREFORE,
40
41Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
42
43     That the Florida Legislature urges the United States
44Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate.
45     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
46dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
47President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
48United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
49the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.