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Tax
Alert
A bi-weekly Report by
Damon B. Ansell and Kate Meerstein
Volume 6 Issue 36
August
31, 2000
Columbus, OH Sports Thrive Without
Tax Increase
In the past two years
Columbus has opened 3 new sports venues as well as more seats being
added to Ohio Stadium for OSU Buckeye football in a year. This has all happened
without a new sales tax or any sort of taxpayer funding. In fact, the Columbus’
taxpayers voted down two tax proposals in 1998 that would have paid
for a new hockey arena and soccer stadium. Despite the voter rejection
the stadiums were built with private funding and so far sports and
concerts are drawing great crowds. I guess that just goes to
show that you can have your cake and eat it too.
Oklahoma
Taxpayers Overwhelmingly Vote to Cut Car Tax
Last week Oklahoma’s
taxpayers took government in their own hands and relieved some of
their tax burden.
Oklahoma’s voters made it clear that they wanted to see some
relief and approved a proposal that will decrease the cost of
license tags by $23 million annually. State Question 691 was
approved by almost 80% of the vote and it will go in effect October
1, 2000.
Vouchers are
working in Washington, D.C.
A new study released this week showed that
African American students in the District of Columbia, Dayton, OH,
and New York City are doing better than their public school
classmates since they transferred to private schools with the help
of vouchers. The study
stated that the students scored 6 percentile points higher than
their public school counterparts and in the District students scored
9 percentile points higher.
Taxes are the
Focus in New Hampshire Governor’s Race
This week the four Republican gubernatorial
hopefuls met for a one-hour debate. One of the biggest issues
discussed and disagreed upon was funding for the state’s education
program. The four
candidates all had different ideas ranging from a state income tax
that New Hampshire does not have, a statewide property tax plan, a
shifting of resources and a slow down of the rate of growth of state
government. One thing
agreed upon by all of the candidates was that incumbent Governor
Jeanne Shaheen (D)and her administration have had 4 years to correct
the education funding issue and have failed.
California
Legislators want to tax the Internet
The California State Assembly voted 42-31 to
send a measure to Governor Gray Davis that would collect a state
sales tax on Internet purchases. The bill focuses mainly on
companies that have stores in California that collect the states
7.25% sales tax, but also have affiliated companies that sell
products on the Internet and do not collect it. The governor has not taken a
position on the bill yet but his general view on Internet taxation
is that it is not a good idea.
Another related bill was sent to Gov. Davis this week. This bill would require him
to talk to other states about setting up a multi-state sales tax
system to capture revenue from Internet sales by out-of-state
companies to California residents. Currently California is
under a moratorium similar to the one Congress has passed while the
complications of Internet taxation is worked out.
Hero and Enemy of
the Taxpayer
Hero of the Taxpayer – Pat Hall, campaign
chairman of Citizens Urging Tax Cuts, the group that campaigned for
State Question 691 in Oklahoma for the success in passing SQ691 and
removing the car tax.
Enemies of the Taxpayer – Senator Chuck Robb
(D-VA) for his poor voting record in Americans for Tax Reform 2000
ratings of Congress.
Representative Tim Roemer (D-IN) for misleading
his constituents on his tax record. Rep. Roemer claims that he
has never voted for a tax increase while in Congress. However in 1993 he voted not
once but twice among a series of votes to give America the largest
tax hikes ever.
For more information,
contact Chad Cowan at 202-785-0266.
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