[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3947 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3947

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize the Federal 
Government to guarantee tax exempt bonds for the purpose of rebuilding 
    the Gulf Coast from the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 29, 2005

Mrs. Blackburn (for herself, Mr. Tanner, Mr. Garrett of New Jersey, Mr. 
  Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Gary G. Miller of California, and Mr. 
Bartlett of Maryland) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize the Federal 
Government to guarantee tax exempt bonds for the purpose of rebuilding 
    the Gulf Coast from the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Gulf Coast Recovery Bond Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. TAX EXEMPT BONDS FOR QUALIFIED GULF COAST RECOVERY PROJECTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 149(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to bonds must be registered to be tax exempt; other 
requirements) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Treatment of Gulf Coast Recovery Bonds.--
            ``(1) In general.--Section 103(a) shall apply to any 
        qualified Gulf Coast recovery bond.
            ``(2) Qualified gulf coast recovery bond.--For purposes of 
        this subsection, the term `qualified Gulf Coast recovery bond' 
        means any bond if--
                    ``(A) the issuer reasonably expects that at least 
                95 percent of the net proceeds of the issue will be 
                used for facilities in a qualified hurricane disaster 
                area,
                    ``(B) the issue of which such bond is a part would, 
                without regard to the application of subsection (b) and 
                section 146, otherwise meet the requirements for 
                excluding the interest on such bond from gross income 
                under section 103 and applicable requirements of this 
                part, and
                    ``(C) if the aggregate face amount of bonds of 
                which such bond is a part issued pursuant to such 
                issue, when added to the aggregate face amount of 
                qualified Gulf Coast recovery bonds previously issued 
                by the issuing authority during the calendar year, does 
                not exceed such authority's volume cap specified in 
                paragraph (4).
            ``(3) Federal guarantee.--For purposes of this subsection--
                    ``(A) Federal guarantee.--The Secretary may 
                guarantee the payment of principal or interest with 
                respect to any qualified Gulf Coast recovery bond under 
                such terms and conditions as the Secretary may require, 
                except that in the case of a default of such bond, the 
                Secretary shall condition the granting of such 
                guarantee on the agreement by the State to a repayment 
                schedule (including interest) for such bonds.
                    ``(B) Treatment of bond as tax exempt.--
                Subparagraph (b) shall not apply to a qualified Gulf 
                Coast recovery bond.
            ``(4) Volume cap.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        volume cap for a State shall be--
                    ``(A) in the case of the State of Alabama, 
                $10,000,000,000,
                    ``(B) in the case of the State of Louisiana, 
                $20,000,000,000,
                    ``(C) in the case of the State of Mississippi, 
                $20,000,000,000,
                    ``(D) in the case of the State of Texas, 
                $10,000,000,000, and
                    ``(E) zero in any other case.
            ``(5) Qualified hurricane disaster area.--The term 
        `qualified hurricane disaster area' means the portion of an 
        area determined by the President to warrant individual or 
        individual and public assistance from the Federal Government 
        under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
        Assistance Act with respect to which a major disaster as been 
        declared under section 401 of such Act by reason of Hurricane 
        Katrina or Hurricane Rita.
            ``(6) Section 146 not applicable.--Section 146 shall not 
        apply with respect to any bond issued under this subsection.
            ``(7) Termination.--This subsection shall not apply to 
        bonds issued after December 31, 2010.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to obligations issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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