First Regular Session

Sixty-second General Assembly

LLS NO. R99­0958.01 Bob Lackner

STATE OF COLORADO

BY REPRESENTATIVE Young;

also SENATOR Hillman.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-1053

CONCERNING THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S SUPPORT FOR AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL "UNEMPLOYMENT TAX ACT" TO REDUCE THE TAX BURDEN ON FAMILY FARMERS.

WHEREAS, Employers who pay cash wages of $20,000 or more to farm workers in any calendar quarter or employ 10 or more employees at least part time during at least 20 different weeks in a calendar year are required to pay federal unemployment taxes in accordance with the federal "Unemployment Tax Act"; and

WHEREAS, The $20,000 threshold has not been adjusted since 1978 when federal unemployment tax liability was first imposed upon farm and ranch employees, and the average size of farms and ranches continues to increase as the number of farms and ranches decreases; and

WHEREAS, While farm production and efficiency have increased, rising costs, imports, and falling commodity prices all threaten the economic security of the nation's family farmers; and

WHEREAS, Given the crisis situation in American agriculture, America's family farmers need tax relief to maintain their operations and their families; and

WHEREAS, Unless America's farm families obtain needed tax relief, these farmers may be forced to sell their land, opening the door for development and threatening the well­being of local economies dependent upon small farms; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty­second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

That we, the members of the Sixty­second General Assembly, request the Congress of the United States to pass legislation to amend the federal "Unemployment Tax Act" to increase the maximum amount of wages that a farmer can pay for agricultural labor without being subject to the federal unemployment tax on such labor, to reflect the effects of inflation on such maximum amount of wages since such tax was first enacted, and to provide for an annual inflation adjustment in such maximum amount of wages.

Be It Further Resolved,  That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor, and to each member of Colorado's delegation to the United States Congress.