Congress urged to preserve tax-exempt status of municipal bonds

The AHA yesterday commended Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) for maintaining tax exemption for private activity bonds in his mark of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and urged him to amend the mark to maintain access to advance refunding bonds in the final proposal as well. “Advance refunding bonds are an essential and important financing tool that allow 501(c)(3) hospitals to respond to credit market conditions to reduce the cost of capital,” wrote AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels. “Hospitals are able to lower their debt costs, resulting in reduced health care costs overall, and free up borrowing capacity for new investment in needed and necessary health facilities. They have resulted in many billions of dollars of savings for the health care system.” AHA also joined the Public Finance Network and Municipal Bonds for America, coalitions that represent municipal bond issuers and users, in urging the House and Senate to maintain tax exemption for private activity bonds and advance refunding bonds in the final tax reform legislation.