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Commerce and Communications Committee Update September 24, 1999 Vol 5, No. 6
NCSL GIVES STATEMENT TO ADVISORY COMMISSION ON E-COMMERCE HR 10 REGAINS MOMENTUM IN CONFERENCE BANKRUPTCY BILL FINDS MORE TROUBLE IN SENATE MCCAIN INTRODUCES BILL TO MAKE INTERNET TAX MORATORIUM PERMANENT
NCSL TESTIFIES BEFORE E-COMMERCE ADVISORY COMMISSION Rep. Matt Kisber (TN) and Sen. Steven Rauschenberger (IL) testified on behalf of NCSL before the federal Advisory Commission of Electronic Commerce on September 15th. In their statement to the Commission, the Co-Chairs of NCSL's Executive Task Force on Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce stressed the that the states' current inability to collect taxes on electronic commerce when there is no nexus, will have an increasingly negative impact on securing necessary revenue. Just as important, the current system creates an unfair advantage for electronic vendors over brick and mortar vendors. Rep. Kisber and Sen. Rauschenberger also recognized, "The most viable option for states to preserve the sales and use tax is for the states to modernize and simplify their tax structures." In an important development, Gov. Mike Leavitt from Utah put forward a motion, effectively setting the agenda for the next meeting in December. The Commission agreed to Leavitt's motion and invited state groups back to present proposals on ways to collect sales taxes on internet transactions, while not creating unfair burdens on the vendor or compromising the privacy of the purchaser. The NCSL Task Force on Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce will work on a proposal during their next meeting on Oct. 8-9 in Nashville, TN, possibly in conjunction with the National Governors' Association. FINANCIAL SERVICES CONFERENCE GETS BACK ON TRACK After weeks of inaction the conference committee charged with reconciling S 900 and HR 10, the two version of the Financial Services Modernization Act, the conference met on Thursday, September 23, 1999 for the first time since the recess. The delay was caused by Senate Banking Chair Phil Gramm, who expressed worry that because the House had assigned certain democratic conferees to work only on specific sections of the bill, the Democrats would have more votes on the report than the Republicans. This issue was finally resolved when the House named four more Republican conferees; Rep. King (NY), Rep. Royce (CA), Rep. Wilson (NM), and Rep. Fossella (NY). The September 23rd meeting accomplished little more than to schedule the next meeting for September 29th. Conference Chairman Rep. Leach (IA) wanted to vote on a list of supposedly non-controversial items, but the conference decided to wait to take them up until the next meeting. THE SAGA CONTINUES FOR BANKRUPTCY REFORM IN THE SENATE S 625 was once again pulled from the Senate floor this week. Majority Leader Lott decided to pull the bill after a cloture motion, which would have limited debate and required any amendments to be germane to the bill, failed on Tuesday, September 21st by a vote of 53-45. Sen. Lott felt the cloture motion was important because Sen. Daschle had made clear that the Democrats planned to offer an amendment by Sen. Kennedy (MA) which would raise the minimum wage $1.00 to $6.15/hour. Sen. Lott also feared other amendments would be offered which might derail the bill. It is not clear yet if the bill will be brought back to the floor this session. The bill would create a means test to determine whether a debtor could file for Chapter 7, or Chapter 13, which would require partial repayments. A similar bankruptcy bill passed the Senate last year by a vote of 97-1. The House has already passed its version of Bankruptcy Reform, HR 833. MCCAIN INTRODUCES A BILL TO MAKE TAX MORATORIUM PERMANENT On September 22nd, Sen. John McCain (AZ) introduced a bill (S 1611) to make permanent the moratorium on taxes on the Internet that was passed last year. McCain's bill also goes farther than the Internet Tax Freedom Act in that it would for the first time also outlaw sales or use taxes on Internet transactions. The bill is not expected to move this year, rather is there to serve as a possible vehicle for legislation next session if the federal Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce cannot come up with a recommendation to Congress on whether and how to collect sales and use taxes on Internet transactions. The Commission has until April to make a recommendation.
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