HM 539

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to support the tax-relief provisions of H.R. 5699
4	and S. 3934, initiated in the 111th Congress, or similar
5	legislation, relating to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
6	of 2010.
7
8	WHEREAS, on April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the
9	Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform, allowing millions of
10	gallons of crude oil to contaminate the waters of the Gulf of
11	Mexico and the beaches and coastline of Florida, and
12	WHEREAS, the oil spill forced the closure of many areas of
13	the Gulf of Mexico to commercial fishing, creating financial
14	hardship for Floridians engaged in fishing and the related
15	industries of seafood processing, seafood packaging, and the
16	wholesale and retail sales of seafood, and
17	WHEREAS, the oil spill forced the closure of many miles of
18	pristine, white, sandy public beaches in Florida, depositing tar
19	balls and oily sheen on the beaches and threatening tidal
20	marshes and bays elsewhere in Florida, and
21	WHEREAS, closure of the beaches and Gulf waters created
22	financial hardships for the state's hospitality industry,
23	particularly in Northwest Florida, during its most profitable
24	time of the year, NOW, THEREFORE,
25
26	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28	That certain provisions of H.R. 5699 and S. 3934, initiated
29	in the 111th Congress, or similar legislation, which address tax
30	relief for affected businesses and individuals and which would
31	be most beneficial to Floridians should be approved by Congress.
32	These provisions are: exempting from federal taxation as income
33	any insurance payouts arising from the oil spill and payments
34	for damages attributable to the oil spill under s. 1002 of the
35	Oil Pollution Act of 1990, 33 U.S.C. 2702, which were reinvested
36	in the Oil Spill Recovery Zone; recognizing any taxpayer who has
37	a qualified oil-spill loss as eligible to use the federal 5-year
38	net operating loss carryback for federal tax purposes; exempting
39	from federal taxation the housing stipends paid to persons who
40	are employed in the cleanup efforts, and awarding a tax credit
41	to employers who paid the stipends; awarding an Employee
42	Retention Tax Credit to qualified employers in the affected Gulf
43	Coast area; waiving the tax penalty on early withdrawals of
44	certain retirement plans if the proceeds are used as specified;
45	relaxing the cap on federal deductions for charitable
46	contributions dedicated to the cleanup efforts; and awarding a
47	Work Opportunity Tax Credit for the hiring of qualified recovery
48	zone employees.
49	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
50	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
51	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
52	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
53	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.