HM 679

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to exempt from federal income tax payments made
4	to victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and to
5	extend the net operating loss carryback period from 2
6	years to 5 years.
7
8	WHEREAS, there was an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon
9	oil rig the night of April 20, 2010, and
10	WHEREAS, the explosion caused hundreds of millions of
11	gallons of oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico and wash up on
12	the coastlines of the five Gulf Coast states, and
13	WHEREAS, this man-made disaster has spoiled Florida's
14	coastline and waterways and devastated its fishing and tourism
15	industries, and
16	WHEREAS, this man-made disaster has directly resulted in
17	the loss of jobs and business for Floridians, and
18	WHEREAS, in June 2010, a preliminarily study by the
19	University of Central Florida predicted job losses of 195,000
20	and spending losses of $10.9 billion if Florida's 23 counties
21	along the Gulf Coast lose 50 percent of their tourism and
22	leisure jobs and spending, and
23	WHEREAS, that preliminary study also predicted job losses
24	of 39,000 and spending losses of $2 billion if those same
25	counties lose 10 percent of their tourism and leisure jobs and
26	spending, and
27	WHEREAS, under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and other
28	applicable laws, BP has been designated as a responsible party
29	and is accountable for processing and paying all costs and
30	applicable damages incurred by individuals, businesses, the
31	state, and local governments as a result of the disaster, and
32	WHEREAS, in late August, a neutral fund administrator took
33	over claims for costs and damages incurred as a result of the
34	oil discharges due to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster through
35	the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, to be paid from an escrow
36	account to which BP has agreed to contribute $20 billion over a
37	4-year period, and
38	WHEREAS, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility evaluates claims
39	for removal and clean-up costs, damage to real or personal
40	property, lost earnings or profits, loss of subsistence use of
41	natural resources, or physical injury or death, and
42	WHEREAS, the Internal Revenue Service has determined that
43	claims paid for lost wages, income, and profits, as well as
44	claims paid for certain property damage, are subject to federal
45	income tax, NOW, THEREFORE,
46
47	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
48
49	That the Legislature requests the United States Congress to
50	enact legislation that:
51	(1)  Exempts from federal income tax those claim payments
52	made to individuals and businesses as a result of the Deepwater
53	Horizon oil disaster for:
54	(a)  Lost wages, income, and profits; and
55	(b)  Property damage.
56	(2)  Allows fishing- and tourism-related businesses to
57	carry back their net operating losses from the oil disaster for
58	an additional 3 taxable years.
59	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
60	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
61	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
62	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
63	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

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