00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 20                                                                                         
01 Urging the Congress to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate                                             
02 the marriage penalty by providing that income tax rate bracket amounts, and the                                         
03 amount of the standard deduction, for joint returns shall be twice the amounts                                          
04 applicable to unmarried individuals.                                                                                    
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
06  WHEREAS the federal government is anticipating a budget surplus of $1.6 trillion                                     
07 over the next 10 years; and                                                                                             
08  WHEREAS the Congress is considering various options for returning some of that                                       
09 surplus to hardworking taxpayers; and                                                                                   
10  WHEREAS, under current law, 21,000,000 married couples pay approximately $1,400                                      
11 more a year in taxes than they would if they were single; and                                                           
12  WHEREAS the institution of marriage should be supported and not penalized by the                                     
13 federal government;                                                                                                     
14  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Congress of the United                                       
01 States is urged to pass legislation to remove from the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 the                                
02 current discrimination against married individuals in all instances of such discrimination; and                         
03 be it                                                                                                                   
04  FURTHER RESOLVED that the income tax rate paid by a married couple be no                                             
05 higher and the standard deduction no lower than that of two single individuals.                                         
06  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                              
07 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President                            
08 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert E. Rubin, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury; the                                  
09 Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable                                
10 Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable                             
11 Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative,                                       
12 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and to all other members of the U.S. Senate                               
13 and the U.S. House of Representatives serving in the 106th Congress.