Still plenty of legislative work in the summer
So far I've not had any all-expenses paid junkets to exciting places. But I did attend the National Council of State Legislators (NCSL) convention last week in Seattle. Many states pay the way for their legislators. We don't and that's OK with me. But as many of you know, Seattle is pretty expensive.
I learned a lot about how other states are handling taxes and economic development.
I was appointed by my leadership to sit on the Budgets and Revenue Committee of the NCSL and we debated some difficult problems.
Are you aware of Colorado's taxpayer bill of rights, commonly called TABOR? It is a little like our spending cap. State government can't grow more than cost of living times new population. Any attempt to limit the growth of government is a good idea, but a couple years after the citizens of Colorado passed this initiative, they passed another exempting education.
Now they have serious budget problems. The Budget and Revenue Committee room was standing room only and Grover Norquist, leader of the national tax reform group, spoke. There are no easy answers. I still favor any measure to limit the growth of government.
Internet sales tax was another hot topic because other states want their sales tax money. They are pushing the federal government to do this. In fact, 41 states have passed or are implementing a "streamlined sales and use tax agreement." I agreed with Representative Majors from New Hampshire, also a sales tax-free state, that states have a right to determine their own taxes, but the majority was against us.
Representative Jill Cohenour, Democrat from East Helena, wanted the Montana delegation to endorse the streamlined sales tax proposal. I was able to convince our group to abstain on the vote. Only five states have no sales tax.
Actually, we are in the middle of this anyway. Many Montanans who mail or Internet order their cigars can no longer do so. Because of the large tobacco tax initiative we passed last election, the legislature enacted rules to collect from out-of-state sellers and required notifications from carriers. Needless to say, UPS won't do the paper work.
There is currently a court case being appealed, Cuno vs. DaimlerChrysler, arguing that tax credits given to attract a specific business to an area are against fair trade rules.
Is it fair that Wyoming has no corporate income tax and Montana does? That we have no sales tax and Wyoming does? States' rights will continue to be a major issue.
My Interim Audit Committee will not meet until the fall, but we have lots of reading until then. We just received three Community College audits.
The Quality Schools Committee will be meeting in Helena on Aug. 30 to hear the report from the Florida consulting firm, R.C. Woods. Here's my guess: More money.
Oh, don't be fooled by the Milken study saying that Montana is a low cost state for business. That is sadly because we have low wages and low rents. We do rank well above the average in taxes. We need to realize that high taxes and low wages go hand in hand.
Please continue to contact me with any comments or concerns. Call 849-6096, write PO Box 233, Dayton MT 59914 or email