As Congress grapples with a loaded legislative calendar this Fall, tax reform is moving toward center stage. NACWA expects that additional guidance regarding the scope of tax reform will be released by the White House and Republican leadership in Congress this week, with legislative efforts advancing closely thereafter.  In anticipation, NACWA and a coalition of national organizations sent a follow-up letter last week to the House Ways & Means Committee, to advocate for maintaining the tax-exemption for municipal bonds.

As a NACWA / AMWA joint study reiterates, tax-exempt municipal bonds are a powerful tool with $38 billion in bonds being issued for water and wastewater projects nationally, in 2016 alone. As the letter notes, these bonds have financed more than $2 trillion in new infrastructure projects in the past ten years, and are set to do the same in the future. 

Please see NACWA’s Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds webpage for fact sheets regarding the impact of these bonds on water investment in your state, or contact NACWA’s Legislative Director, Kristina Surfus for more information.