RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, have seriously damaged various sectors of the United States' economy; and

WHEREAS, the travel industry has been particularly hard-hit by the attacks as Americans have remained wary of engaging in travel, especially air travel; and

WHEREAS, the damage to the travel industry has resulted in tens of thousands of layoffs in the airline industry and many more thousands of layoffs and cutbacks in associated sectors such as travel services, hotels, and other resort businesses; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii, with its reliance on tourism as its primary industry, has been disproportionately affected by the economic crisis in the travel business; and

WHEREAS, the destructive effects of the terrorist attacks in Hawaii have resulted in massive increases in State unemployment claims, layoffs, and furloughs in the local airlines, and large reductions in Hawaii-bound air passengers and hotel occupancy rates; and

WHEREAS, to respond to the dire economic situation and restore confidence in the economy, various ideas have been proposed by public and private organizations as to what steps the State and local governments and the private sector can undertake to promote our travel industry; and

WHEREAS, one way to maintain a vibrant travel and tourism industry, keep people working, and stimulate economic growth would be to provide tax incentives, such as providing tax deductions for all travel expenses, regardless of whether the travel is for business or leisure; and

WHEREAS, one such measure, the Travel America Now Act (S. 1500), which is a bill providing tax incentives for business and personal travel, has been introduced in the United States Senate; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Third Special Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the Congress of the United States is requested to pass legislation allowing for the deduction of all travel expenses from federal income taxation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and each member of the Hawaii Congressional delegation.

Report Title:

Requesting passage of legislation for the deduction of all travel expenses from federal income taxation.