Every now and again when I’m researching, I come across little tidbits in legislative history that make me laugh. Today is one of those days.
In 1986, Sen Robert T. Stafford (R-VT) proposed the following amendment as S.AMDT. 2060:
To provide that no person over 75 years of age with net income less than $40,000 shall pay any income tax so long as such person’s hair does not turn white.
Sen. Stafford served as Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Vermont. He was also both a United States Representative and a U.S. Senator.
If his name sounds familiar and you have no ties to Vermont, perhaps you’ve recently taken out or paid off a student loan. In 1988, Congress renamed the Federal Guaranteed Student Loan program the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan program, in honor of Stafford’s work on higher education.
But back to his legislation: the amendment, which was withdrawn the same day it was proposed (June 10, 1986), would have modified H.R. 3838. The latter actually did pass and went on to become Public Law 99-514, otherwise known as the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
See? Now you totally have cocktail party conversation…
