State Tax Update Archive
[2003 - 2004] [2002 and Older]

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Volume 8, Issue 7

Alabama Governor: Constitutional Tax Issues
Governor Don Siegelman supports giving local school boards more authority to raise taxes by eliminating the constitutional amendment requiring the Legislature to approve local ballot measures to increase taxes (Anniston Star, 4/2).

Alaska City Rejects Proposed Sales Tax Increases
The Juneau city Assembly opposes the 3% sales tax favored by the state House of Representatives because Juneau already levies the 3% local option sales tax. If the state-wide tax becomes law, Juneau residents are not likely to renew their local option, city Assembly members said (Juneau Empire, 4/4).

Arizona Legislator Proposes TABOR-like Amendment
Rep. Russell Pearce proposed a plan to impose a constitutional cap on state spending linked to inflation and population growth and requiring a popular vote for tax increases to pass. Pearce's bill came up one vote short in the House, 4/10 (Arizona Daily Star, 4/11).

Connecticut Governor's Salary Increases
Governor John Rowland's salary will double in 2003, and will rank 3rd-highest among U.S. Governors thereafter. Connecticut faces a $1 billion spending shortfall (www.stateline.org, 4/1).

Georgia Committee Approves Pork, Despite Deficit
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $4.7 million local pork spending bill, despite tax receipts falling across the state. The bill includes spending on new furniture, state building renovations, and the repair of a peanut monument (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 4/2).

Iowa Republicans Push Zero-Growth Budget in Senate
Republicans pushed a zero-growth budget through the Senate 4/2. Democrats claim that Governor Tom Vilsack will veto the $2.7 billion budget. The Governor has said that he is prepared to call a special session this spring (Des Moines Register, 4/3).

Maryland Tax Increases Take a Turn for the Worst
The House and Senate were divided on how to spend the 34 cent per-pack cigarette tax increase both were poised to approve, when at the last minute the House voted to approve a $1 per-pack tax increase that was previously approved by the Senate. The tax increase will cost taxpayers $1.3 billion annually (Washington Post, 4/8).

Maine Referendum Shifts School Funding, Sales Taxes
A referendum considered by the Legislature would shift funding responsibility for public schools from property taxes to sales/services taxes. The referendum would broaden the sales tax to include services, replacing sales and services taxes with a gross receipts tax (Kennebec Journal, 4/1).

Missouri Resolution: Supermajority Requirement
House Budget Committee Chairman Tim Green introduced a resolution to govern all appropriations bills. The resolution requires that any proposal to increase spending must include matching proposals to reduce spending elsewhere in the budget, and that a 2/3 supermajority is required to dip into budget reserves. Unfortunately, the Budget Committee approved a $75 million dip into reserves at almost the same time that Green introduced his resolution (Kansas City Star, 4/3).

Oklahoma Bill to Propose Tax Cuts, Tax Reform
House Bill 2041 would cut the state income tax from 7% to 5% and repeal the state death and business franchise taxes. Senator Angela Monson and Representative Clay Pope introduced the bill. A state tax reform task force supports reducing the income tax to 4.35%, capping the state capital gains tax at 2.35%, and expanding the state-wide 4.5% sales tax to include services. The task force also supports increasing the cigarette tax from 23 cents to 60 cents per pack (Daily Oklahoman, 4/9).

ATR awards the Friend of the Taxpayer Award for the Month of April, 2002 to Arizona House of Representatives Member Russell Pearce for his TABOR-like bill to limit state spending.

ATR awards the Villain of the Taxpayer Award for the Month of April, 2002 to Governor of Alaska Tony Knowles for proposing a state-wide income tax.