Obituary: Ex-Congressman and Bond Foe J.J. Pickle Dies

J.J. Pickle, a retired Democratic congressman from Texas who helped push for the tough curbs that were imposed on tax-exempt private-activity bonds under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, died Saturday of lymphoma at his home in Austin. He was 91.

James Jarrell Pickle, known simply as Jake, won a 1963 special election to the House seat once held by President Lyndon B. Johnson. By the time he retired in 1994 after 31 years, he was third in seniority on the House Ways and Means Committee and was chairman of the subcommittee on oversight, which tackled a broad range of issues over the years, including public finance.

During his 15 terms in office, Pickle, who was good-natured even to those who opposed his stances, became known as a strong advocate for curbing tax-exempt bonds, particularly the use of municipal debt for private purposes.

It was his position -- as well as those of several other senior members on Ways and Means -- that led to the outright ban under the 1986 law on several kinds of private-activity bonds, such as those for pollution control, sports and convention facilities, parking, and industrial parks, as well as to the imposition of the state-by-state volume cap on those private-activity bonds that were not banned.

Pickle favored strong curbs on small-issue industrial development bonds, and once quipped to a reporter -- in a reverse twist on the famous Will Rogers phrase -- "I never met an IDB that I liked."

Although Pickle had been tough on the public finance community over the years, he changed in the years following tax reform and became moderately positive about rolling back some of the toughest curbs imposed on traditional governmental bonds, including easing some of the arbitrage rebate rules. (c) 2005 The Bond Buyer and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.bondbuyer.com http://www.sourcemedia.com