That this is logical legislation.
I wish someone from the GOP would jump on as a co-sponsor.
I think I do agree.
So, government bonds are usually tax free, but these piss people off so much (including most of us) that she’s introducing legislation to make certain ones not tax free, because they support stadiums that should be privately funded?
I tend to agree, but …are there slippery slopes?
Almost certainly, but in theory I agree, I have not read the legislation.
Edit to add: The bill is only two pages long, no slipper slopes that I can see.
The teams will just add to their demands of the Cities and States where they play?
The only way to really do this is to forbid any Public money go to Stadium Construction. I doubt that would be Constitutional.
I am going to disagree on this. This is one one of those cases where they have not thought this out.
For example, as proposed this would apply to any stadium or area used for professional sports at least five times a year. Under this proposal if a small city wanted to build a complex including small baseball park to be used for a Class-A minor league team long with the local high school baseball league and other local events, that would not be eligible for the tax-exempt status under this legislation.
And, what about a city which wants to fund a stadium without a firm commitment from a team but with the hope that once the stadium is built a team will come, just as was done with the domes in St Petersburg and St Louis. Since there is no guarantee that the stadium will be used for professional sports five times a year at the time of the bond issuance, what status does it get.
Well that is just stupid.
Maybe put a lower limit on the valuation of the team.
Now, to be fair, as a Conservative I am not apt to allow the Federal government to tell smaller governments what to do. If cities want to vote for stupidity, let them. So I am kind of torn on this.
That is my thought exactly.
And, there is a slippery slope here. This is talking about stadiums that are used for professional sports. I am sure that people can come up with any number of other projects that are funded with public tax money but which benefit wealthy people and corporations. You then get into the debate of why the government is singling out professional sports teams only. Then, if you start talking about going beyond that, you get to the point where the federal government is deciding what projects deserve tax-exempt status for the bonds funding them and which ones do not. Do we really want to go down this road?
This is one of those things that is a feel-good idea on the surface but which not as simple as clear cut as one might hope. I doubt very much this will go anywhere.
The real answer is for local governments to pull their heads out and not fund these.
But, like I said, I am in favor of it conceptually.
Cities and States issued bonds are tax free.
No problem if the City/State retains Ownership.
Similar to Bonds to fund a Sewer System or County roads.
What they are talking about is privately built and owned Stadiums, financed with Tax Fee Bonds issued by a City/State but paid for by Private entities.
Investors will buy Bonds with a lower Interest rate if the Interest paid is tax free. It lowers the financing cost of Building the facility.
This costs the City/State very little but the Feds a lot.
When I was growing up, the city owned the local single A baseball team in town. I don’t know who owns it now, but I wonder if that situation happens elsewhere.
And, what if the city wants to use bonds to fund its own youth sports programs?
Why are the Feds getting involved with city and state bond measures? If California or LA wants to give away the farm to build a stadium, why do the feds care?
Because they are giving away Future Fed Revenue.
Did you look at the above.
And that works great…unless the COUNTY is involved. How much do you pay for the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas Ciy, even though you don’t live in Kansas City.
A little off topic, but Kansas has been wooing a company and offering up a billion dollars in tax breaks for a company to move to Kansas. We know that it will create several jobs that have an average pay of $50,000 per year. Based on the articles I’ve seen, each job created will in effect cost the state $250,000, Gosh…who is this great company? Well…it’s a secret. I’m not real comfortable with giving away that much to a company we don’t know.
While the Kansas governor, who is a Democrat, is pushing hard, the blood red Republican Kansas Legislature approved it.
That’s part of what I meant by slippery slope. Most of us would agree that taxpayers shouldn’t fund stadiums, but they’re not the only idiotic corporate giveaways.
3/8 of a cent on everything I buy!!!
I tried to find my speech on this that I did several years ago.
But the YouTube link is private.