From owner-celegans@net.bio.net Tue Jul 01 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!WELCHLINK.WELCH.JHU.EDU!kreese From: kreese@WELCHLINK.WELCH.JHU.EDU (Kimberly Reese) Newsgroups: bionet.celegans Subject: URGENT: Tax bill may slash graduate stipends in USA Date: 2 Jul 1997 15:19:31 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 191 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Please read this carefully, even if you have already heard about this issue. We apologize for the length, but feel this is a critical issue, and that graduate students nationwide need to band together. ***Please forward this Email to your fellow graduate students and faculty at all US universities as well as to family and friends who will be supportive of our views, and under- graduates who may be considering graduate school in the future. Please help us spread the word in order to keep your taxes down. It is urgent that this message be heard across the country by every graduate student*** July 1, 1997 >From the graduate student representative organizations at: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Harvard University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stanford University ============================================================== Background: As you may know, the "Tax Relief Act" of 1997, passed the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 2014) on Thursday, June 26; a different version of the bill passed the Senate (S. 949) on Friday, June 27. The House bill, while providing $135 billion in tax relief to many Americans, contains a provision which drastically and detrimentally affects graduate students. A short clause phases out section 117(d) of the tax code, the section that excludes the value of tuition waivers or tuition reductions from taxable income. With the loss of this tuition tax exclusion, many graduate students will see their taxes raised by thousands of dollars per year. Examples provided by the NAGPS (National Association of Graduate-Professional Students) indicate that some of us may see our after-tax wages cut by 50% or even more!! Tuition waivers are used in many graduate programs to assist students during their often-lengthy education. Most of these students are obtaining PhDs in academic fields and will go on to modestly-paying university positions, possibly after long post-doctoral research. They serve as teaching assistants or research assistants in return for not paying tuition, which can easily exceed $20,000 per year at private institutions. Under the House version of the bill, the value of this tuition waiver would be considered taxable income. Although the House version of this bill is a disaster for graduate students, the Senate version does not include the repeal of section 117(d) of the tax code. Because of this and many other differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill, both houses of Congress (as well as the White House) will convene to reconcile the two versions of the bill following the July 4th recess. At that point, the bill will be voted on for final passage, and signed into law. Our last chance to defeat the House bill is through this House-Senate Committee, which is expected to begin meeting the week of July 7th. If you have not heard of this issue, contained within the highly publicized "Tax Relief Act," it is because this act is enormous, containing tax issues involving cigarettes, capital gains, and the $500 per child tax credit, to name just a few. It is these other issues which have gained the media's attention, and few people seem to be aware of the impending disaster for graduate students, higher education, and university and research budgets. **It is our responsibility to ensure that our opinions are voiced and that this issue gains national attention. For more background on this situation, see one of the following web sites: NAGPS: MIT GSC: Harvard GSC: ================================================================= What you can do: 1. Please forward this Email to all graduate students you know at other institutions, as well as your family, your friends, and any undergraduates you know who plan to go to graduate school in the future. (Maybe media also!) Convince them to take action. 2. Distribute this information to fellow students, faculty, department and graduate program directors, and administrators within your own institution. Organize a campus-wide response through your local graduate student representative group. Be sure that your administration is on top of this issue and is taking immediate action. 3. Call (or fax or email) your Senators and Representative! It is critical that your voice be heard by your own members of Congress. Shear numbers of calls will make an impact. 4. Make a special effort to swamp the members of the Conference Committee with calls, as they will make the ultimate decision in reconciling the bills. If you are represented by one of these Senators or know someone who is (DE/MS/NY/NM/IA/OK/NJ/ND), make sure contact is made! ================================================================= How to contact your Senators and Representatives: House/Senate switchboard: 800-962-3524 or 800-972-3524 or House: 202-225-3121 Senate: 202-224-3121 Or check for addresses, direct phone number, district office number, email and more information. The following senators are members of the Conference Committee which will be composing the final version of the bill. These are critical people to target, especially if you live or go to school in DE, MS, NY, NM, IA, OK, NJ or ND. Roth (R-DE), Lott (R-MS), Moynihan (D-NY), Domenici (R-NM), Grassley (R-IA), Nickles (R-OK), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Conrad (D-ND) House Conference Committee members will not be announced until July 7th or 8th. Congress is now on Independence Day recess (through July 7th) and most members will be in their home districts. Use this opportunity to meet with them personally to discuss your concerns. ================================================================= What to say in your calls and letters: Please be polite and courteous, but let them know that you oppose the loss of section 117(d), the tuition tax waiver for graduate students. This waiver is retained in the Senate version (S. 949) of the Tax Relief Act but eliminated in the House version (H.R. 2014). Be sure to mention that you are concerned that this issue be carefully considered at the meeting of the Joint House- Senate Conference Committee to reconcile the two versions of the Tax Relief Act. Explain to them your concerns for higher education and for research should the tuition tax waiver be lost. Here are some specific points to mention: - how this tax increase will impact your financial status (have numbers to illustrate your point) - how top students will opt to not pursue graduate degrees, threatening America's continued leadership in research - how graduate students will leave graduate school - how losing qualified students in your field will impact the US (e.g., biology: cancer and HIV/AIDS research engineering/physics: national defense) - how this tax will increase costs to universities, leading to an increase in undergraduate tuition - for more specifics, see NAGPS Talking Points: WRITE, PHONE, and FAX these issues to your representatives immediately. The more they are aware that there is real and dire concern over this issue, the more likely that this issue will be removed in the House-Senate Conference Committee. ================================================================= Thanks for your action! The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Graduate Student Association gsa-g@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu Harvard University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Graduate School Council gsc@hcs.harvard.edu Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduate Student Council Stanford University Graduate Student Council gsc@assu.stanford.edu .