The American Public Power Association is asking its members to help populate a map that will allow congressional members and staff to search for projects financed with municipal bonds in their own state and congressional district.
APPA’s goal is to make sure there are at least four such projects in every congressional district. The #BuiltbyBonds map can be found here and requires filling out the Built By Bonds Entry Form (gfoa.org).
The form asks for:
- Project title;
- Project owner;
- Project importance (description);
- Project cost;
- Project type;
- Project location; and
- An image of the project.
APPA noted that tax exempt municipal bonds are back on the menu for the 2025 tax policy debate.
Personal and estate tax provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are set to expire after 2025 and making them permanent will cost at least $5 trillion in revenue.
Just as in 2012 and 2017, even if the tax-exempt is not repealed outright, Congress could do almost as much damage with more limited approaches, such as the proposals to impose a surtax on bond interest forwarded by former President Barack Obama and former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp (R-MI), APPA said.
Meanwhile, the number of lawmakers in Congress with past experience with local government is shrinking. Of 435 members of the House, just 65 have city our county experience. And of 100 senators, just 14.
APPA noted that it is joining with others in the Public Finance Network on the #BuiltbyBonds campaign, a multi-year effort will include numerous stakeholders.
