Tax-bill update. (fwd)

[Tuan Anh Tran <tat1821@unix.tamu.edu>]

  Moi cac bac dang lam PhD, MSc.... tham khao.

Tuan (Texas A&M)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 10:38:41 -0500 (CDT)
From: Tuan A. Tran <tuan@chaos.tamu.edu>
To: tat1821@unix.tamu.edu
Subject: Tax-bill update. (fwd)



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 10:26:40 CST
From: Marcus Drew <DREW%PHYACC.dnet@phys>
To: graduates@physics
Subject: Tax-bill update.


Subject: Taxes from Washington DC

Forwarded to me by someone in the Office of Graduate Studies, who recieved
it from a member of the American Association of University Professors
(AAUP) Government Relations Office.  It is in our best interest to be both
aware and active in how the government views graduate issues such as
tuition and taxation.  I urge you to pass this information on to others,
and to write your Senators and Representatives.

--- Forwarded Message Follows ---


From:         Mark F. Smith, Government Relations Office

Both houses of Congress are currently considering the tax proposals
affecting higher education.  Last weekend the House Ways & Means Committee
passed a bill which contained several provisions which burden students and
others in higher education with heavier taxes. The specific items which
drew AAUP's opposition include:

      counting scholarships (tuition reduction plans) for graduate
      students who are working as teaching and research assistants,
      and for faculty members and their families, as taxable income.

      eliminating the tax-exemption of the major pension fund serving
      faculty, TIAA-CREF.

      limiting the tax-free benefits of employer-provided education
      assistance to undergraduates only.

Finally, the Ways & Means Committee bill does not include a student loan
interest deduction, despite strong bi-partisan support for such a
provision. The bill now goes to the full House.

Action Needed:        Call your Representative and urge opposition to the
                      Ways & Means provisions.  Support Higher Education
                      as an investment in our future.


The Senate Finance Committee is beginning its consideration of its own tax
bill this week.  I am including a list of members of the Senate Finance
Committee, since they will be the first Senators considering this
legislation.  The Association has sent each of them a letter urging support
for the following provisions:

      to retain the provision that permits tuition reduction to be excluded
      from taxable income.

      to leave the tax exempt of TIAA-CREF status intact.

      to allow a tax deduction for the interest paid on education loans.

      to include a permanent extension of the income exclusion for
      employer-provided education assistance for both undergraduate and
      graduate courses.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee:

 William V. Roth, Chair (R-DE)                 John H. Chafee (R-RI)
 Charles E. Grassley (R-IA)                    Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT)
 Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-NY)                     Frank H. Murkowski (R-AK)
 Don Nickles (R-OK)                            Phil Gramm (R-TX)
 Trent Lott (R-MS)                             Jim M. Jeffords (R-VT)
 Connie Mack (R-FL)


 Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY)                Max Baucus (D-MT)
 John D. Rockefeller (D-WV)                    John B. Breaux (D-LA)
 Kent Conrad (D-ND)                            Bob Graham (D-FL)
 Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL)                    Richard H. Bryan (D-NV)
 J. Robert Kerrey (D-NE)

Action Needed:        Call your Senators and urge passage of a tax bill
                      that supports Higher Education as an investment in
                      our future.

Last Saturday, June 14, the AAUP Annual Meeting unanimously approved a
resolution on the tax bill sponsored by the Committee on Government
Relations.  That resolution concluded:

      "Before Congress passes new laws that burden higher education
      with more taxes, the AAUP urges Congress to examine the impact
      of these proposals on coming generations of students. Instead
      of limiting the educational opportunity of  today's children
      -- our future college students -- the AAUP challenges Congress
      to find ways to preserve access to high quality higher
      education for them."

Letters on the issue to both the House Ways & Means Committee, and the
Senate Finance Committee are posted on the AAUP webpage at

< http://www.igc.apc.org/aaup/ >

The Government Relations Office has a current list of home offices for most
members of Congress, as well as their Washington office, and e-mail address
where available.  Please contact the office to get the appropriate address
or phone number.

For further information contact the Government Relations Office at
1-800-424-2973, by fax at 1-202-737-5526