00                   SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 12(title am)                                                             
01 Urging the United States Congress to amend the tax code to eliminate the marriage                                       
02 penalty.                                                                                                                
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS many married couples pay more income tax than they would be required                                    
05 to pay as single individuals living together; and                                                                       
06       WHEREAS more than 44 million Americans, approximately 43 percent of all married                                 
07 couples, are affected each year by this marriage penalty, according to the Congressional                                
08 Budget Office (CBO); and                                                                                                
09       WHEREAS the CBO estimates that under current tax laws the marriage penalty                                      
10 results in married couples paying an average of $1,480 more in taxes each year than                                     
11 cohabiting individuals earning the same income; and                                                                     
12       WHEREAS the United States Congress passed H.R. 4810, the "Marriage Tax Relief                                   
13 Reconciliation Act of 2000," providing tax relief to married couples penalized under current                            
14 tax laws, but this legislation was vetoed by President Clinton;                                                         
15       BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Congress of the United                                  

01 States is urged to again pass legislation that amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to                              
02 make the tax system marriage-neutral; and be it                                                                         
03       FURTHER RESOLVED that this legislation equalize the standard deduction for a                                    
04 married couple to the amount to which two unmarried individuals earning the same combined                               
05 level of income would be entitled; and be it                                                                            
06       FURTHER RESOLVED that this legislation equalize for married couples filing                                      
07 jointly the amount of income that pushes taxpayers into higher tax brackets by making the                               
08 breakpoints twice what they are for single filers.                                                                      
09       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W.  Bush, President                             
10 of the United States; the Honorable Paul O'Neill, United States Secretary of the Treasury; the                          
11 Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable                                
12 Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Chuck Grassley, Chairman of                               
13 the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance; the Honorable Bill Thomas, Chairman of the U.S.                                   
14 House Committee on Ways and Means; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable                                   
15 Frank Murkowski, U.S.  Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.  Representative,                                     
16 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.