Updated: Bill to make it easier to raise taxes passed Senate Ways & Means Committee

The bill to make it easier to raise taxes by modifying Initiative 960 is now up for vote in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Watch live on TVW.

The bill suspends and amends 960:  It suspends the two-thirds vote requirement to raise revenue for two legislative sessions and it amends by allowing the Legislature to transfer revenue between accounts, amend the law following a revenue-related court case or end exemptions with a simple majority vote.

Here’s the bill.

Update 1: Sen. Joe Zarelli put forth an amendment to allow the tax increase this year only, but Sen. Rodney Tom asked members to vote against it, saying there are more revenue forecasts before this biennium is over, and the Legislature needs to be able to be flexible. The amendment failed 13 to 8.

Update 2:  Sen. Joe Zarelli put forth another amendment that only tax exemptions recommended by the Tax Preference Commission could be axed without hitting the two-thirds vote requirement. Sen. Phil Rockefeller said few of the state’s hundreds of tax exemptions have been reviewed by the commission — and the Legislature shouldn’t have to wait for them to end exemptions. The amendment failed 13 to 8.

Update 3: Sen. Zarelli’s third amendment would require a nexus between a fee and the fund it would be transferred into by the Legislature. Example: They couldn’t take a tire fee and transfer it into the schools fund without a two-thirds vote. Sen. Rodney Tom said excess funds should be used right now for the state’s needs. The amendment failed 13 to 8.

Update 4: Sen. Zarelli’s fourth amendment would allow a simple majority to raise taxes, but would put it to a public vote. Sen. Rodney Tom said it would cost money and set up a false expectation for voters, who “send us down here to look at the big picture.” The amendment failed 14 to 7.

Update 5: After turning down all the amendments, the committee voted without discussion. It passed out of Ways and Means and now heads to the Rules Committee.

Tags: Initiative 960, taxes