Tax‐Exempt Bonds under Attack: A Concern for Engineers

Abstract

A major source of funding for infrastructure and other important construction programs is threatened by provisions in the proposed tax reform bill that sharply curtail the use of tax‐exempt bonds. The bill would prohibit the use of tax‐exempt bonds for certain types of facilities, and would subject many other categories to stringent caps which would drastically reduce the funding heretofore available from this source. ASCE has adopted a policy statement expressing firm opposition to the drastic cutbacks required by the bill, which would result in reduced funding or higher interest costs for many essential programs while raising only a relatively small amount toward the Federal budget deficit.