Motorcoach industry stakeholders have another week to build support for House efforts to exempt CERTS grant funds from federal taxation in the next available piece of legislation.
“If you have written your Congressman and they’re not on this list, you might want to call them and ask them, ‘Why aren’t you helping us?” said Ken Presley, UMA’s Vice President, Legislative & Regulatory Affairs & Industry Relations/COO, referring to the 29 Representatives (listed below) who have signed on. “Please reach out to your Representative and ask them to get on board.”
During the United Motorcoach Association’s weekly Town Hall on Oct. 21, Presley and former UMA President and CEO Larry Killingsworth ran down the level of participation by state and gave a shout-out to Wisconsin and Minnesota for “punching above their weight.”
Four U.S. House Members — Reps. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Darin LaHood, R-Ill., Albio Sires, D-N.J., and John Rose, R-Tenn. — are driving the bipartisan effort to make grants under the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act exempt from being reportable income, avoiding a possible tax liability.
The four have extended the deadline for colleagues to sign their letter to Oct. 28.
UMA is urging supporters to participate in the click and send campaign to easily send an email to their U.S. Representatives.
Here is the list of Representatives who have signed on to support the industry.
Alabama
Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-7)
California
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-1)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)
Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA-20)
Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27)
Rep. Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (CA-47)
Connecticut
Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-2)
Rep. Jahana Hayes (CT-5)
District of Columbia
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Hawaii
Rep. Ed Case (HI-1)
Iowa
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-2)
Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-4)
Illinois
Rep. Mike Bost (IL-12)
Rep. Darin LaHood (IL-18)
Louisiana
Rep. Brian Higgins (LA-3)
Maryland
Rep. Andy Harris (MD-1)
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-2)
Rep. Anthony G. Brown (MD-4)
Minnesota
Rep. Jim Hagedorn (MN-1)
Rep. Angie Craig (MN-2)
Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-3)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-5)
Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-6)
Rep. Pete Stauber (MN-8)
North Carolina
Rep. Kathy Manning (NC-6)
New Hampshire
Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-1)
New Jersey
Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (NJ-10)
Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (NJ-2)
Rep. Andy Kim (NJ-3)
Rep. Christopher H. Smith (NJ-4)
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5)
Rep. Albio Sires (NJ-8)
Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-9)
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)
New York
Rep. Antonio Delgado (NY-19)
Rep. John Katko (NY-24)
Rep. Thomas Suozzi (NY-3)
Pennsylvania
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1)
Rep. Mike Kelly (PA-16)
Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-4)
Rep. Susan Wild (PA-7)
Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-8)
Tennessee
Rep. John Rose (TN-6)
Vermont
Rep. Peter Welch (VT-at large)
Wisconsin
Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-2)
Background
This week, the legislators began circulating a letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty, asking House Members to join the effort by signing the letter by Oct. 28.
As a matter of law, all federal grants are considered taxable income. But when the Internal Revenue Service announced that Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiven funds would be considered a grant and therefore taxable, Congress expressed outrage that intended relief for small businesses would be a tax burden.
Subsequently, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which passed the House and Senate and was signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 27, exempted the forgiven PPP grants from taxation.
Modeled after the PPP, subsequent programs for restaurants and shuttered venues also are exempt from federal taxation.
