June 12, 2019 - TRA Newswire/ProgressiveRailroading.com -

A bill that would make the 45G short-line tax credit permanent has received support from a majority of U.S. House members, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) announced. A bill in this years Texas legislature failed to win support at the state level in the House.

As of yesterday, 219 representatives are cosponsors of the Building Rail Access for Customers and the Economy (BRACE) Act, which would make permanent the tax credit that short lines and regionals can receive for investing in infrastructure maintenance. The credit expired in December 2017 and has not yet been extended.

The bill, H.R. 510, has bipartisan support, with 111 Democrats and 108 Republicans signing on as cosponsors. A companion bill in the U.S. Senate (S. 203) has 45 cosponsors and is "similarly supported by both parties," ASLRRA officials said in a press release.

An infrastructure tax credit bill to help Texas short-lines did not make it out of the state House Ways and Means Committee in the session that ended last month. Texas House bill 1068 was introduced by Representative Trent Ashby (Lufkin) and referred to Ways & Means. Chairman Dustin Burrows (Lubbock) held a hearing in April where representatives of the Texas Short Line and Regional Railroad Association spoke about the short line railroad industry and the benefits of the state investing in rail. Ultimately, Chairman Burrows decided not to vote on the short line and many similar tax credits in his committee. If passed, the credit would have been applied to the margins tax which has been the target of eventual phase out or elimination.  It was said that the Chairman did not want to continue putting holes in the margins tax with more targeted breaks.

Read more: https://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/ASLRRA-House-majority-cosponsors-short-line-tax-credit-bill--57794?