1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             requesting the United States Congress to support a 
  1.3             repeal of the federal excise tax on telecommunications.
  1.4      
  1.5      WHEREAS, the federal excise tax on communications was 
  1.6   enacted in 1898 for the purpose of funding the Spanish-American 
  1.7   War; and 
  1.8      WHEREAS, the tax was introduced as a "temporary" luxury 
  1.9   tax; and 
  1.10     WHEREAS, telephone service is no longer a luxury, but 
  1.11  rather a necessity for consumers of all income levels; and 
  1.12     WHEREAS, the federal excise tax is regressive, as 
  1.13  low-income Americans pay a higher percentage of their income for 
  1.14  telephone services than high-income Americans; and 
  1.15     WHEREAS, telecommunications services are the infrastructure 
  1.16  upon which new technologies including the Internet depend, and 
  1.17  therefore the telecommunications excise tax discourages 
  1.18  expansion of both the telephone infrastructure and new 
  1.19  technologies; and 
  1.20     WHEREAS, the federal excise tax on telecommunications flows 
  1.21  into the general fund, rather than being earmarked for a 
  1.22  specific purpose; and 
  1.23     WHEREAS, both Houses of Congress passed a repeal of the 
  1.24  federal excise tax on telecommunications in 2000, which was 
  2.1   vetoed by President William Jefferson Clinton; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.2      BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.3   that it urges the Congress of the United States to repeal the 
  2.4   federal excise tax on telecommunications. 
  2.5      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.6   State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  2.7   memorial and transmit them to the President and the Secretary of 
  2.8   the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the 
  2.9   United States House of Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators 
  2.10  and Representatives in Congress.